Queen Victoria's beloved strawberry treat bridges cultures

We love strawberries! Interestingly, although Canadian flavours differ significantly from English ones, there is complete agreement. English people are also very fond of strawberries. Many of their traditional desserts are based on these fruits, including Queen Victoria's favourite cake.

English cuisine is not famous for its desserts. However, that changes during the fresh strawberry season. On the islands, they enjoy Eton Mess and the Victoria Sponge, Queen Victoria's favourite cake.

Although Canadian and English cuisines differ significantly, you won't be surprised by Queen Victoria's favourite dessert. In Canada, a similar cake is baked. It's simply a sponge cake layered with whipped cream or cream frosting and strawberry jam decorated with fresh strawberries. In the Queen's time, the cake was even more straightforward. Queen Victoria enjoyed a simple sponge cake layered with strawberry jam for her afternoon tea.

This classic British cake originates from a simple cake that can be compared to a pound cake. However, in those times, baked goods were becoming lighter and fluffier. As noted by the author of the Past in the Kitchen blog, this was all thanks to baking powder. It was invented by Alfred Bird in 1843. Unfortunately, he didn't patent it, and the history of baking powder is quite complicated. But it was thanks to this powder that the cake could rise and gain a lighter structure. That's why it's called Victoria's Sponge (or sponge cake). How do you make such a cake? The recipe is straightforward.

Ingredients:

• 170 grams of all-purpose flour,
• 7 milliliters of baking powder,
• 170 grams of butter,
• 113 grams of superfine sugar,
• 3 eggs.

Additionally:

• 250 millilitres of heavy cream (30%), chilled,
• strawberry jam for layering,
• fresh strawberries for decoration,
• powdered sugar for sprinkling.

Preparation method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until white and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs one by one, continuing to mix continuously.
3. Add the flour and mix it with the baking powder.
4. Transfer the batter to a 20-centimeter cake pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 175ºC. Cool it down.
5. Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form; optionally, sweeten it with powdered sugar.
6. Cut the sponge cake into two layers. Fill them with jam and whipped cream.
7. Decorate the cake with fresh fruits and powdered sugar.

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