The Classic Victoria Sandwich – Made Healthier 

(Guest post by Amelie Cartwright)

Most bakers have a recipe of some sort that they will always come back to, and it’s something that they will always have no trouble preparing for birthday parties or other special occasions. Be it a simple vanilla cupcake recipe or their grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, every baker needs to have a go-to recipe. 

If you’ve yet to find yours and are searching for a recipe that’s both simple to make, but still elegant and versatile, then this recipe for a classic Victoria sponge might be just what you’re looking for. It’s a rather easy cake to make and assemble – a simple stack of two sponge cakes filled with any filling and frosting of your choice. The classic Victoria sandwich has become something of a staple of British bakeries, and Blair Smethurst, Quality and Innovation Development Chef for M&S, has even released a short video tutorial for baking lemon Victoria sponges. You can see it here ( EmmaMT here!- I love what Blair does with the lemon glaze)

This recipe, however, adds a twist to the classic Victoria sponge by making it much healthier. The original recipes are overflowing with sugar and fat, but some simple substitutions can cut half of the fat out of the finished product without sacrificing its taste. 

Ingredients 
· 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil, plus some extra for greasing 
· 175g of self-raising flour 
· 1 ½ tsp of baking powder 
· 140g of golden caster sugar 
· 25g of ground almonds 
· 2 large eggs 
· 175g of natural yoghurt 
· 2-3 drops of vanilla extract 
· 25g of melted butter 
· 4 tbsp of your favourite fruit conserve or jam 
· Icing sugar, for decorating 

Preheat your oven to 180 deg C, and lightly grease two 18cm sandwich cake tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper. 

In a large mixing bowl, tip the flour, baking powder, caster sugar, and ground almonds together and mix well and form into a mound. Make a well in the centre. 

Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and the vanilla. Pour this mixture, as well as the oil and melted butter, into the well in the mound of dry ingredients. Stir briefly together until the mixture is well-combined. 

Divide the mixture evenly among the two baking tins and level the tops. Bake both cakes together for 20 minutes, until they’ve risen and started to come away slightly from the sides of the baking tins. 

Remove the cakes from the oven, and use a round-bladed knife to loosen the sides from the tin. After a brief cooling period, turn them out and peel off the parchment paper. Allow them to sit on a wire rack, and leave them to cool completely. 

Assembling the cake is also a breeze: simply put one of the cakes on a serving plate, and use your favourite jam or conserve. Frugal Feeding has some great ideas for homemade jams, which could really take your Victoria sponge to the next level. Pile on the other cake to finish your sandwich, and dust with icing sugar! 

Thanks to my lovely friend Amelie Cartwright for writing this guest post. It’s made me very hungry! EmmaMT