It may be a simple cake, but there is something about a light and airy Victoria Sponge that takes you on a trip down memory lane, and brings a smile to anyone who takes a bite. In this recipe, I’ve filled the sponge with a creamy, slightly sweetened, mascarpone and cream icing married with homemade blackberry jam to create a match made in heaven.
Victoria Sponge
Few cakes carry as much British heritage as the beloved Victoria Sponge. Named after Queen Victoria, this classic teatime treat became the monarch’s daily indulgence at afternoon tea, cementing its place in culinary history. The earliest known recipe appeared in Isabella Beeton’s influential cookbook from 1861 “The Book of Household Management”, ensuring its place in every Victorian kitchen.
Today, the Victoria Sponge remains a testament to the power of simplicity—just butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, transformed into a cake fit for royalty and beloved by generations of home bakers. I for one remember making this cake early on in a ‘Home Economics’ class – as it was called back then! And when my mother had to whip up a quick cake, the simplest thing was to throw a Victoria Sponge cake in the oven, made with her chickens eggs and sandwiched with homemade strawberry jam. Heaven.
Here, I’m giving the beloved sponge cake a little twist – Victoria Sponge with blackberry jam & mascarpone cream. The cream may be different as well as the fruit, but the jam is still homemade of course!
Other blackberry sweets treats
Here are some other suggestions for baking with blackberries:
Victoria Sponge with Blackberry Jam FAQ
Absolutely! Raspberries from the garden would work work, or blueberries if you’re lucky enough to have a bush – or snap up a bargain punnet at the market.
You can definitely use a simple sweetened whipped double cream. Or if you have a sweeter tooth, then a vanilla buttercream would also work well.
Victoria Sponge with Blackberry Jam and Mascarpone Cream Icing
Equipment
- 2 loose-bottomed 20cm/8" cake tins
- 1 stand mixer or handheld whisk
Ingredients
Victoria Sponge Cake
- 175 g softened butter
- 175 g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 175 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Mascarpone and Cream Icing
- 110 g mascarpone
- 170 ml double cream
- 40 g icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- Pinch of salt
To Finish
- 150 g blackberry jam
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C and lightly grease and line the bottom of the cake tins.
- Beat together the butter and sugar in your stand mixer, or with a wooden spoon, until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition – scraping down the sides as needed.
- Slowly fold/mix in the flour until you have a lump free cake mixture.
- Divide this equally between the two cake tins and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen well, firm to the touch, and the cake is beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
- Remove from the oven and leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 15 minutes before removing them. Leave to cool completely.
- In the meantime, in a small bowl beat the mascarpone until smooth. In a larger bowl either using a stand mixer or hand whisk, whisk the cream, icing sugar, vanilla essence, and pinch of salt, until the mixture just holds its shape. You don’t want to over whip it. When you pull the whisk out you want the beater to leave a trail for a few seconds.
- Add the mascarpone cream and slowly beat in to ensure everything is well combined, but you don’t take the cream too far. You want the icing to just hold its shape.
- When the sponges are completely cool, thinking about which sponge you wish to be your presentation side on top of the cake, pipe or spread the mascarpone cream icing onto the bottom sponge and the blackberry jam on the middle of the sponge that will be the top. Then sandwich the top sponge (with the blackberry jam) on top of the cream. Finally, take a small sieve or tea strainer, and dust the top with the icing sugar.
Notes
- Here is the recipe for my blackberry jam but feel free to use a good bought version.
- You can always use a different flavour or jam such as strawberry or raspberry which would work equally as well.
