Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake

Vegan Victoria sponge cake – this delicious egg free and dairy free vanilla Victoria sandwich cake with jam and vanilla buttercream is light, soft, easy to make and perfect for Afternoon Tea!

I’m on a bit of a mission to perfect vegan versions of all of the classic bakes. For the most part, the majority of recipes are not too hard to veganise well; though if anyone has a recipe for vegan choux pastry that actually works do let me know!

Victoria sponge cake has to be the ultimate classic cake recipe, and fortunately it works very well as a vegan version. The cake is light, soft and moist, with just the right amount of fluffy vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam.

This is a perfect cake for all occasions, whether you make it as a birthday cake, or just for a simple afternoon tea. It is the kind of cake that is good for both children and adults so it is bound to be a crowd-pleaser.

What Is Victoria Sponge Cake?:

Victoria sponge cake, also known as Victoria sandwich, is the quintessential British cake. It is named after queen Victoria, who reportedly liked a slice with her afternoon tea.

It is comprised of two layers of buttery vanilla cake filled with jam and cream or buttercream. It is often baked as a birthday cake, for afternoon tea, or just because it’s Tuesday.

The Best Ingredients:

Butter: It is very important that you use a vegan block butter/margarine for both the cake and the buttercream – the kind that comes in a foil wrapped block, NOT the spreadable kind in a tub which has too high a water content for baking.

As this is a fairly simple cake, a lot of the flavour comes from the butter, so it is best to also use one that tastes good. I absolutely love Naturli Vegan Block and almost always use it for baking.

It is currently unfortunately only available in Sainsbury’s but if you are able to get hold of it that is 100% the brand I would recommend (not sponsored, I just think it’s great).

Otherwise, Stork block or Vitalite block both work well; and in the US Earth Balance buttery sticks would be the right kind of product to use.

Yogurt: Non-dairy yogurt replaces the eggs and helps to keep the cake soft and moist. I use Alpro vanilla soy but a plain variety will also work, as will coconut yogurt; though I would stick to a thinner type rather than a really thick, set style of yogurt.

Jam: Victoria sponge cake is traditionally filled with jam (purists would say it should contain ONLY jam, no buttercream, and no vanilla extract either!); either strawberry or raspberry is best (and traditional), but you can use any variety you prefer.

How To Make Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

*For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.*

Start by greasing two 19-20cm/7.5-8inch round cake tins and lining the bases with baking parchment. My tins are 19 cm so if you use 20cm ones the cakes will be very slightly thinner than pictured.

Cream together the softened vegan butter and sugar with an electric mixer for a good few minutes until very light and fluffy. You want to try and get lots of air incorporated for a fluffy cake.

Add the yogurt, milk, vanilla, flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and gently mix everything together until it forms a smooth batter. Take care not to over-beat it as that can make the cake tough and you don’t want to knock out too much of the air you’ve just beaten in.

Divide the batter between the tins and bake for about 25-35 minutes until the cakes are springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then carefully turn them out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Once the cakes have cooled, make the buttercream. Place the softened vegan butter, sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer for at least a couple of minutes until smooth and fluffy. If the buttercream is too stiff you can whisk in a little bit of milk until it forms the right consistency, no more than a teaspoon at a time.

Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate and spread over a generous quantity of jam.

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle and pipe blobs of the buttercream on top of the jam. (Alternatively, you can spread the buttercream over the bottom cake layer with a palette knife first, then spoon the jam on top).

Place the second cake layer on top. Sprinkle with a little caster sugar or dust with icing sugar and serve.

Tips:

• Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start – if the yogurt and milk are too cold it can cause the butter to harden and the batter to curdle.
• Strawberry jam is the most traditional, but you can use any kind you like. It would also be great filled with lemon curd.
• I like to sprinkle the top with caster sugar, but you could dust it with sifted icing sugar instead.
• If you don’t have self-raising flour, you can swap it for regular plain flour and add an extra 3 1/2 tsp baking powder instead.
• This vegan Victoria sponge cake is lovely served with fresh fruit, especially strawberries or red berries.
• It will keep for up to four days in an airtight container.
• Best enjoyed with a cup of tea.

If you tried this recipe why not tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

Recipe adapted from Vegan Life.