The Great British Bake Off is back on TV – yippee! It’s such great light-hearted escapism, perfect after a long day at work.
The Victoria sponge has to be the true classic British bake – just the kind contestants are challenged to make on the Great British Bake Off. You’ll find versions of this cake at any fete, tea room, WI meeting or farm shop up and down the land. And elderly ladies up and down the land are sure to be having it at tea time. But strangely enough you rarely see an egg and dairy-free Victoria Sponge recipe. In vegan baking I think often a good rise is achieved with the use of baking powder and vinegar and that cocoa is so often added to mask any residual flavour. Since this version doesn’t rely on vinegar, but rather the acidity in dairy-free yogurt, it stands up well and keeps hold of the delicate vanilla flavour.
You may question my making a classic cake and then filling it with chocolate buttercream rather than raspberry jam? Well, I wanted to use the jam which I personally like, and I thought the photos would look stunning with the traditional jam filling shining berry bright between the delicate yellow layers, but in the end thrift won over. I know my children well and for some reason they will not go near a cake filled with jam – little S still remembers with horror her 3rd birthday cake which had jam in!! So I filled mine with fluffy chocolate buttercream to ensure it didn’t get wasted. Please fill yours with jam and let me know how it tastes – maybe send me a photo?
Victoria Sponge Cake (dairy-free. egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, can be soya-free, vegetarian and vegan)
makes 1 cake
- 1 cup dairy-free spread
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 500ml dairy-free yogurt, I used Alpro vanilla for added vanilla flavour
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- jam or buttercream to fill
– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 4
– Grease and line the bottom of a cake tin
– Melt together the dairy-free spread and caster sugar
– Whisk in the yogurt and vanilla
– In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt
– Pour the yogurt mix into the dry and carefully fold together until no lumps remain
– Pour into the prepared tin
– Bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
– Leave to cool in the tin, then remove the tin and finish the cooling on a wire rack.
– Split in half and fill the centre with jam or buttercream
– Place the top back on and liberally sprinkle icing sugar all over the top
20 Responses
You are a genius! Amazing!!!!
it didn’t last long round here! always a good sign 😉
Yum! This look so beautiful!
thank you – sometimes simplicity is best 🙂
I couldn’t agree more!
Looks really good, fabulous. Vegiefoodie.com
Thank you so much 🙂
You are welcome:)
I made it today & my mom, Dad, my husband & I all loved every bite of it! It was Amazing! 😋😋
so pleased 🙂
did you fill it with jam? did that work well?
This recipe is amazing.
I’ve just made a gluten free version with a black currant jam and soya buttercream filling.
So grateful to you for sharing this recipe!
Sarah 🙂
Fantastic! I’m so pleased you liked it and it worked gluten free too. I’m loving the idea of using the black currant jam x
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wow this looks amazing! I recently found out i was allergic to dairy so shall defiantly have to try this out! check out my blog as I am going to be trying out different dairy free recipes, I have already tried dairy free ice cream, and the recipe can be found here: http://snapgracklepop.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/healthy-dairy-free-ice-cream.html
fantastic, hope you like the cake. i’ll definitely be checking out your blog x
Just made this cake, it was absolutely divine. I used both strawberry jam and butter cream for the filling – only one problem I should have made two, as everyone wanted a second slice!!
That’s fantastic feedback – thanks so much x
This looks yummy 🙂 I’ve not made a cake before with yoghurt, so was wondering if you think it would freeze ok? (Without the buttercream etc) I often freeze cake (dairy and egg free) and it’s usually still good, so wondered if you have tried?
Also, what size tin do you use for this one please? Thank you
Hi Emma, I’d say this newer recipe is better for a Victoria sponge (just swap jam for the biscoff) as the earlier recipe tastes good but ends up a little rubbery! I reckon this one would freeze ok, although I’ve never tried! https://lucysfriendlyfoods.com/2019/08/06/salted-caramel-victoria-sponge-cake/