duch*ess of Cornwall shares her Victoria Sponge recipe (2024)

FAQs

Did Queen Victoria like Victoria Sponge? ›

Queen Victoria and the Victoria Sponge

Food historian Alysa Levene reported in her 2016 bookCake: A Slice of Historythat the Queen was in fact particularly fond of this simple yet delicious sponge cake and enjoyed having a slice with her afternoon tea.

Queen Elizabeth II's pastry chef shared her favourite recipe for Victoria Sponge Cake - and we can't wait to try it out for ourselves. The Victoria Sponge 🍰 was named after Queen Victoria, who regularly ate a slice of sponge cake with her tea, each afternoon!

The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well.

Victoria and Albert's engagement

In their memoirs, both Albert and Victoria record that they almost instantly fell in love.

Arthur (Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught 1850-1942)

Arthur was the best behaved of the children and the Queen's favourite. He had a very active imagination, liked reading and playing with his toy soldiers.

The first recorded evidence of cake-making dates back to ancient Egypt, where cakes were baked as offerings to the gods. However, it was the Greeks who are credited with the development of more cake-like confections, adding eggs, butter, and leavening agents to create a richer, softer texture.

Traditional Victoria Sponge Cake consists of 2 layers of light-as-air sponge cake that sandwich whipped cream and jam. Perfect for a British afternoon tea treat or anytime dessert.

We have a sweet tooth

The food historian Alysa Levene reports that Queen Victoria truly did enjoy a Victoria sponge, decorated with a single layer of jam, alongside other cakes and edible treats, at tea parties on the Isle of Wight.

Did Queen Victoria have a wedding cake? ›

A hand-coloured lithograph of one of the royal wedding cakes produced for the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on 10 February 1840.

Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip — 1947

Instead, she and Prince Philip opted for a royal wedding tradition — a fruitcake. Made by McVitie and Price Ltd, the ornate four-tier cake stood 9 feet tall and weighed roughly 500 pounds (we guess Queen Victoria's cake wasn't so huge after all!)

Oil Cake. Oil cakes follow the same principles as butter cakes, but use oil as the source of fat. Because oil is liquid at room temperature, oil cake recipes skip the step of creaming the fat and sugar; usually the oil is incorporated into the wet ingredients, which are whisked or folded into the dry ingredients.

If your oven is too hot, the outside of your cake will bake much more quickly than the inside, leading to a peak or crack. The top of your cake may also get too dark. Oven thermostats can be wildly off, so if this often happens, invest in a separate oven thermometer.

If your sponge has come out too heavy or dense but cooked through, this could be due to under-mixing. Mixing is an important step in incorporating lots of air so that the sponge becomes light and fluffy. It could also be due to the fact that there weren't enough raising agents used.

Feodora enjoyed a very close relationship with her younger half-sister Victoria, who was devoted to her, although Victoria resented the fact that Feodora was one of only a few other children with whom she was allowed regular interaction.

Victoria despised the Comptroller of the duch*ess's household, Sir John Conry, whom she described as a “monster” and “devil incarnate”. Sir John and Victoria's mother, who were allegedly lovers, led “a tense and scheming household,” according to Ms Shindler.

The couple enjoyed several years together, and became a golden couple to the outside world, symbolic of power, wealth, family values and love. Despite it being a true love match, the couple experienced ups and downs like everyone else, but managed to preserve their passionate love for each other and the royal family.

Queen Victoria's original choice of white was, however, as much about practicality and patriotism, as it was purity. As head of state, with business on her mind, she wanted to support and stimulate Britain's lace industry.