Remembering My Mom's 10 Year Passing with A Study of the Great Victoria Sponge

Tomorrow, February 9th, is the 10th anniversary of my Mom’s passing, as I like to think of her, onto her beautiful, sun- drenched kitchen in the sky. I am thoroughly certain that she is there, happily baking away on a daily basis, as she did while she was here with us. Of all the ways I could think of to honor and remember her at this time, baking a cake in her name seems to be the best. This post is dedicated to her.

Mom with Christin and Ryan at her retirement party at age 75

As my current Sunday evening obsession is watching Masterpiece’s Victoria, I have been led on a path of studying many iterations of the famous Victoria Sponge. I have a such a great soft spot and affection for sponge cakes as my Mom baked her favorite for us on an ongoing basis throughout all of her years.

My travels in this regard took me into the kitchens of some of my favorite bakers from across the pond, where this cake originated, and iconic destinations, some of which I have spent many hours traipsing through. Here is my list of 10 honorable bakers: Mary Berry, Nigella Lawson, the blog Not Quite Nigella (Lorraine Elliott), Fortnum and Mason, the blog, Tea in England, Peggy Porschen, Lily Vanilli, Fern Verrow, Annabelle Langbein and Violet Bakery. Each and every recipe is just slightly different even though the original version began with equal weights of butter, sugar and flour and either 3 or 4 eggs. As with most bakers, we can’t ever leave well enough alone, and so each has sewn in a few iterations here and there, mostly the addition of vanilla, milk and a bit of salt. You’ll find the links to most of these recipes below. I actually made myself a chart, but it’s too messy to copy here.

Here is my own version of the Victoria Sponge, customized for this time of year and with my dear Mom in my Heart. It is an amalgam of all the 10 recipes I studies. I’d characterize it as a sponge of medium density and crumb, with a good hint of orange and adorned with the complimentary flavors of raspberry and kumquat. I only wish I had a supply of Orange Blossoms to adorn the top of this cake as in the Elderflower version from Fern Verrow, (perhaps my favorite of all, which is adorned with a swath of fresh elderflowers atop a light icing. You’ll find it in their book). It would be completely befitting to have these fresh orange blossoms and make this cake the perfect gift I would like to give her. I however, had to improvise as best I could. Kumquats, in season now, are a most useful and flavorful citrus, eaten whole, (avec seeds). They are great in sweet and savory applications and, as I have mentioned in this blog before, I first had them awhile ago at a luncheon at the Metropolitan Museum, served as a garnish to a lovely halibut dish.

Fern Verrow’s Elderflower Cake – photo courtesy Fern Verrow

Here, I have candied them, left them whole and used both the fruits and highly fragrant syrup to adorn the cake.

A Victoria Sponge for My Mom – Orange-Scented Victoria Sponge with Kumquats and Raspberry

1 cup unsalted butter, soft

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs, room temp

3 tbsp whole milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp orange flower water (or 1/4 tsp orange extract if you don’t have Orange Flower Water)

zest of one navel orange (1 tbsp)

1 cup heavy cream

2 rounded tbsp finest quality seedless raspberry jam

1/2 lb kumquats, candied in simple syrup, halved, syrup reserved

Butter 2 8″ cake pans, place a round of parchment in the bottoms, butter the parchment and dust the pans lightly with flour. Tap out excess. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until well blended and light, about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest and mix in. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the almond extract and orange flower water and blend.

With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture followed by the milk. Then add the remaining flour mixture. Blend just until the flour disappears. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter into the two prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cook on a rack until cool. Remove layers from pans and set aside.

Beat the cream with 1 tsp confectioner’s sugar until firm peaks form but do not over beat. Place the bottom layer on a cake round. Spread the raspberry jam in an even layer with a small offset spatula so that a nice bead rests just at the outer edge. Top the jam with the whipped cream and spread evenly, up to the edge, but leaving the raspberry jam just barely showing. Arrange the whole kumquats around the outer edge on top of the cream, plump edge out. Place the second layer over the filling with the rounded edge on top. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar through a doily if you have one. Decorate the center with orange blossoms, if you are lucky enough to have some, or an edible sprig or flower (today I used a young sprig of Sage). Drizzle the kumquat syrup sparingly over the top and just over the edges in a bicycle wheel spoke shape from the center.

It is incredibly hard to believe that my Mom has been gone for 10 years. She really wanted to spend a long life spoiling her grandchildren, but alas, she didn’t get the chance. I hold tight onto many wonderful memories of my her, of all her unselfish giving and cheerfulness and faith. She is with me every single day in the kitchen and I will always remember her for her sharing of her delicious food and her great and unselfish love and devotion to others.