Earl Grey Victoria Sponge

I love the Queen, I love her beautiful smiley face, I love her incredibly bright fashion sense and I love the fact she embodies everything British. So when I was asked to come up with a recipe that I would make for the Queen's Jubilee by Appliances Online, I wanted to make something that would embody this amazing woman. So I got thinking, what is more British than a Victoria Sponge? Well... An Earl Grey Victoria Sponge with bergamot jam.

I really wanted to find a real bergamot to use in some way, but this proved ridiculously hard and after a lot of searching I finally found citrus fruit with bergamot jam. It turned out to be great and carried the flavours of the Earl Grey cake really well, making it delightfully fresh and floral. For me it's the perfect cake to present to the queen, there's nothing more British than a Victoria Sponge! 

Serves 10 (or 1 very hungry Queen)

For the cake:

200g softened butter

200g caster sugar 

4 large eggs

200g self raising flour

3 tbsp well brewed Earl Grey tea

For the filling:

1 tsp well brewed Earl Grey tea 

Half a jar of bergamot jam (or citrus jam if you can't find it) 

100g softened butter

140g icing sugar (plus a little more for dusting)

1. Switch your oven on to 180 degrees and grease two 8 inch baking tins.
2. Pop your butter in to a large bowl, add the caster sugar and cream them together until light and fluffy. 
3. Mix in the eggs, one by one until well combined.
4. Sieve the flour into the mixture and fold in well, then fold the well brewed Earl Grey tea in. 
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into the two tins, and pop into the oven for 25 minutes. 
6. When the cake is looking beautiful and golden brown on top and is springy to the touch, take them out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer on to a wire rack to fully cool down.
7. Make the butter cream by creaming the butter, icing sugar and Earl Grey tea together.
8. Spread a nice thick layer of bergamot jam over the top of the first layer of the cake, then top with the butter cream. 
9. Top it off with the second layer of cake, then give the cake a good dusting with icing sugar.
10. Make yourself a cup of tea, cut a large slice of cake and enjoy!

Posted in: Baking