Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1142446
is recipe was first featured in At Home at Highclere: Entertaining at the Real Downton Abbey, in which the 8th Countess of Carnarvon invites readers to enjoy five weekend parties at Highclere Castle, including a divine afternoon tea. Some say that as a child, Queen Victoria wasn't allowed to eat sweet treats very often, but during her reign the practice of taking afternoon tea was popularised and a little sweet something to sustain the Queen and her guests in the late afternoon became de rigueur. us the Victoria Sponge Cake was named, and it makes a delicious addition to afternoon tea. V I C T O R I A S P O N G E C A K E INGREDIENTS 4 medium eggs at room temperature 225g softened unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 1 cup caster sugar 1 ¾ cups self-rising flour 2 teaspoon baking powder 4 ¼ cups double cream About 2/3 cups strawberry jam A little icing sugar for dusting DIREC TIONS Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease and line the base of 2 × 20cm sandwich tins. Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, sugar, flour and baking powder and mix everything together until well combined using an electric mixer. As soon as everything is blended together, stop mixing. The batter should easily fall off a spoon. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and gently smooth the surface of the batter. Place the tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Don't open the oven during cooking time or the cakes will sink. The cakes are done when they are golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the tins and a knife inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in their tins for 5 minutes before turning the cakes out onto a wire rack. Remove the lining paper. Whisk the cream in a bowl until it forms soft peaks. When the cakes are completely cool, spread one cake with lots of thick, delicious jam, then pipe or spread the whipped cream over the top. Sandwich the cakes together and finish by dusting the top of the cake with a little confectioners' sugar. v i k i n g c r u i s e s . c o m 49