Victoria sponge cake is surely the most appropriate traditional summertime cake. It’s the very essence of tea time, taken under the shade of an apple tree on a warm Summer afternoon, maybe along with some scones and cup of tea in fine china cups!
I’ve found it quite a journey to develop the perfect Victoria sponge recipe, for some reason it has been so much harder than a chocolate cake. Sometimes the texture is a bit too rubbery/bouncy or the flavour not quite right. However finally thanks to some gratefully received input from a reader and his mother in law, the a pretty fine egg and dairy-free Victoria sponge is here. It’s always such a delight to me when I feel I have developed a great ‘friendly’ alternative to a classic staple. I feel like I’m finally hitting my ‘brief’ from the outset of this journey, which is about enabling everyone to enjoy the same things. This cake would make an awesome birthday cake if chocolate isn’t your cup of [English] tea.
This sponge has a wonderful crumb, perfect for a layer cake and the addition of custard powder adds an additional welcome vanilla hit. Custard powder – that’s the tip I was given and wouldn’t have thought of myself.
This would’ve been perfect as a traditional jam filled sponge cake, but since my children aren’t very keen on jam I turned this into a salted caramel sponge cake with a Lotus spread drizzle and salted caramel buttercream. A version I highly recommend 🙂
Salted Caramel Victoria Sponge Cake
(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, can be soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)
makes one sandwich cake
370g self-raising flour
2 tbsps Birds custard powder
220g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
290ml dairy-free milk
2 tbsps dairy-free yogurt
100g dairy-free margarine, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line 2 20cm sandwich tins
- Sift together the flour, custard powder, bicarb and salt
- Stir in the sugar
- In a separate bowl, mix together the dairy-free milk, melted dairy-free margarine, yogurt and vanilla.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix gently until well combined.
- Pour into the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes, until a knife comes out clean
- Cool in the cake tins.
Filling, enough to fill one cake:
- Make the buttercream by whisking together 1tbsp Trex, 1/4 cup dairy-free margarine, 1 cup sifted icing sugar [use Sugar and Crumbs salted caramel icing sugar if possible] and 1 tbsp dairy-free milk.
- (if you can’t find flavoured icing sugar use normal but add 1 tsp caramel essence instead)
- Make the caramel drizzle by combining 2 tbsp Lotus caramelised biscoff spread with 1 tbsp dairy-free milk
- spread the buttercream over one of the sponges, top with the Lotus drizzle. Place the top layer on the cake and dust with a generous layer of icing sugar
18 Responses
That looks AMAZING. It’s only 5.50am but I would like a slice. Hehe. Going to share with my vegan cousin too.
Thanks for posting another great recipe. I don’t have allergies but am a vegan living in the UK and this is my favourite site for recipes and baking inspiration. I’ve never commented before but read a few posts ago you were wondering whether to keep it going so thought I’d let you know how much I love it!
thank you so much for your wonderful feedback. It’s made my day x
I would love to have a slice of this right now! 😀
This is a really fab recipe! I swapped out the butter cream and Biscoff sauce for the classic raspberry jam and it was so delicious!
I will definitely make it again, thanks for the excellent recipe!
So pleased it worked well for you x
Do you think this would convert to cupcakes easily?
Hi thanks for posting this delicious recipe.would this work if normal yogurt,milk.and marg instead of dairy free?
I haven’t tired but I don’t see why not. Let me know how it turns out 😀
Hi Lucy just to say I made your cake today and it was so delicious thank you so much for this brilliant recipe. The buttercream and Biscoff sauce were to die for! I usually use oil in my vegan sponges but the melted dairy free margarine and yogurt worked a treat! Thanks again!
Hi Linda, thanks so much for the comments. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the recipe 😊
Hi,
My son, who has multiple severe allergies, made this at the weekend! It went down a real treat and has inspired him to start thinking about his Cooking badge at Beavers! Thank you. X
That’s brilliant! I’m so pleased he enjoyed making and eating it. Your message has made my day 😊 xx
Hi Lucy another fantastic recipe . I would like to try it . Which dairy free margarine and yoghurt did you use ? 😊
I used pure sunflower which is always my preference and alpro, but any dairy free yogurt would work well x
Thanks lovely 😊
I have made this cake several times and it is just brilliant. Everyone loves it, thank you so much for posting it.
Thank you so much for writing and taking the time to let me know. I’m so delighted you all like my recipe. X