Jammy Layer Cake
Is it a Victoria sponge, isn't it? I'm not sure
Hello! I’m actually away on holiday in the USA at the minute, I’ll have just landed when this newsletter goes out! I’m taking a much needed break so I won’t be checking in as regularly to reply to comments. If you don’t already, come and give me a follow over on Instagram to see what I’m getting up to.
Today I have a very classic cake recipe: vanilla sponge, vanilla buttercream, and jam. So simple and yet so delicious! I’m hesitant to call this a Victoria sponge, as I haven’t done enough research into what officially constitutes a Victoria sponge, and I feel like there’s scope for a whole deep dive there. But this post isn’t about that, it’s just about making a really nice cake with whatever jam you have to hand.
I’ve been on a bit of a genoise roll recently and haven’t made a butter-based cake for ages. When my friend posted a picture of herself eating a shop-bought Victoria sponge out of the packet like an apple, I knew I had to make one myself. This recipe is a variation of my classic vanilla sponge, rather than using a classic creaming method which is the most popular for Victoria sponge, it uses the reverse creaming method to give it a plush texture with a really nice even crumb. Since I’m pairing the sponge with Swiss meringue buttercream, I added a few of my extra egg yolks to make the sponge extra rich and tender.
I’m aware that this isn’t a common problem, but I frequently have jam coming out of my ears (not literally). Jams that I’m recipe testing, jams I’ve made too much of, jams I whipped up because I had some fruit that needed using up. My partner does an excellent job of munching his way through them, but even with his help, I sometimes find myself with a glut of jam. I can’t think of a better way to eat it than in a big slab of cake!
I’ve kept the flavours in this cake really simple as I wanted the jam to shine and sometimes it’s nice to go back to basics. You can use whatever jam or compote you like. I had some leftover raspberry, rhubarb and pink peppercorn compote from this post so I used that. If you don’t have spare jam hanging around, you can use a good-quality shop-bought one. Or, if you fancy making some, I’ve got tonnes of recipes! Here are a few of my favourites:
Cherry Plum (scroll to the bottom)