Victoria Sandwich, Coffee Sandwich and Chocolate Sandwich Cakes

Three cakes, same method, different flavours – Right Charlie which one do you want to do? – “ALL OF THEM” Thankfully this week is half term and I don’t have to go looking for tins as this recipe calls for two 8-inch tins that I have.  Mary very kindly puts in the alternate measurements for different sized tins so if you have 6-inch or 7-inch tins that’s not a problem – thanks Mary.

Victoria Sandwich plain

 Plain Victoria Sandwich

 Saturday, Our baking adventure continued with the first Victoria Sandwich.  The recipe is an All in one, which basically means you put everything in one bowl and beat it at the same time.  This causes me problems, having attempted the Madeira cake this way; I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.  Now, forgive me Mary, I know you have billions of years experience and I can’t believe that after one cake we are doing this, but I'm going to change your method.    We creamed the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy then added the eggs and beat until mousey and really light.  We then sifted the flour and baking powder and mixed well.  The batter was really light and dropped easily of the spoon - apparently this is a good sign; again don’t ask me why, it just is.

Charlie drew round the tins and cut the circles of baking paper to put inside the greased tins.  She divided the mixture into two and baked for 20 mins – the recipe called for 25 mins baking, but was perfect after 20.  It was sandwiched together using raspberry jam.  My husband didn’t believe that we actually made this; it was so incredibly light – could all the cakes be like this? 

 Coffee Sandwich Cake

upside down trying to even them out

The Coffee Sandwich was done using the same creaming method (Really sorry Mary) I had a little panic as I didn’t have any coffee essence or instant coffee granules however, I found some decaffeinated granules at the back of the cupboard (goodness knows how long they have been there!), oh well, they will just have to do.   Charlotte really didn’t enjoy making this cake and at one point was holding her nose whilst mixing to stop herself from gagging at the coffee smell – she’s such a drama queen. This cake sank in the middle, so we turned it upside down on the cooling rack and hoped it would even out – Come on Mary, lets see if your tip works.  Blimey, it did!

It is sandwiched together using a coffee butter cream with a couple of walnuts on the top – I think it looks pretty fantastic! 

Coffee Victoria Sandwich

Coffee is not a favourite in this house so we decided that a lovely neighbour might enjoy it – so off we went to Harry’s.  Harry is a great man, who has taken my girls under his wing since we moved to Holland.  He is like another grandfather, and if ever I'm in need of help, I know Harry won’t mind.  Bless him, he even built my Chicken koop, helped me get the chickens and keeps them alive and healthy – He is probably the nicest Dutch man I know.   He was delighted to see us, but having never sampled an English style cake he wasn’t sure what to make of it, but was very happy to accept it.  Two days later, he appeared at my door and placed an order with Charlotte to bake a cake for his brother’s birthday – all his family including the grandchildren really enjoyed it, Needless to say, she has her first order and is over the moon!

Chocolate Sandwich Cake



Chocolate Victoria Sandwich

Thankfully Sunday has arrived and, hoorah its school tomorrow.  Its also baking day and our last Victoria Sandwich – We saved the Chocolate Victoria till Sunday as Charlie is going to take this one into school tomorrow to share with her friends and save my waist line.  Again, apologies to Mary, but we creamed the butter and sugar first – we like this method, the batter is really light and it rises wonderfully and pretty evenly too.  Charlie has become a little over confident since Harry’s visit, and it showed – she wanted very little help from me and rushed everything.  My patience was a little lacking and I snapped at her a couple of times for rushing and splattering my kitchen with butter, flour and cocoa powder – I think the problem was that one of us is a little grumpy and tired -  but I think Charlie forgave me.  She sandwiched it together with the butter cream and grated plain chocolate on the top. I think she's going to be very popular at school tomorrow.

Ive put pictures of all three cakes on here so you can see just how big they are, I was delighted that the first cake wasn’t a fluke and the others rose just as well. 

I’ve got to say, I think she is taking to baking like a duck to water and soon I'm going to be out of a job!  There are a couple of things I must remember for the future, firstly.. make sure Charlie brushes her hair before we take the photos, secondly, make sure she's not wearing the same clothes - scruffy little oink! and lastly don't try to do too much in one week - we all end up a little tired and emotional.

Next week its Swiss Roll – oh lordie!