Lemon Victoria Sponge Cake

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This lemon victoria sponge cake is the perfect twist on a traditional victoria sponge cake. The cake itself is extra moist and tangy with tons of delicious lemon flavor. The tender cakes are then filled with raspberry jam and freshly whipped cream! It’s so delicious, I’d even eat it for breakfast with a cup of hot herbal tea!

Here’s why you should make this lemon cake recipe:

This lemon victoria sponge cake is technically a layer cake, but not a traditional one. Most layer cake recipes require you to ice and decorate which can become a little daunting, but this cake is the opposite! The outside is left plain and the top is just dusted with powdered sugar! How easy is that?!

Tips for success!

• Make sure to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy! This creates pockets of air that puffs up the cake as it bakes.
• Rub the lemon zest and sugar together with your finger tips before adding in other ingredients. Doing this releases all those essential oils from the zest, resulting in big lemon flavor!
• It’s easy to end up with some lemon seeds in the batter. Try to make sure you fish all of them out before baking!
• Make sure to whip the cream to stiff peaks! You’ll know the cream is whipped enough when it’s clinging to the whisk. Careful to not over-do-it though, it’ll curdle easily!
• Prep your cake pans. I like cutting out rounds of parchment paper to cover the bottoms of my cake pans. This ensures the cakes won’t stick to the pans. You can also grease the pans with butter or non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking. Make sure you grease the sides!
• Let the cakes cool before turning them out of the pan! Room temperature cakes are much less prone to breaking.
• Stick to thicker fillings for the cake. If you opt to make a homemade jam or lemon curd, make sure it’s thick enough that it doesn’t run and seep out onto the sides of the cake.

Ingredients you’ll need for easy lemon victoria sandwich cake:

For the cake layers:

• Granulated sugar
• Grated lemon zest
• Softened butter
• Fresh lemon juice
• Vanilla extract
• Large eggs
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder

For filling:

• Heavy whipping cream
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Raspberry jam or preserves

Other filling options:

I think this victoria sponge cake really benefits from whipped cream, but you can switch the raspberry jam for so many other things!

• Store-bought jar of lemon curd: stick with the lemon theme and use tangy lemon curd!
• Another flavor of jam: Store-bought or homemade blueberry jam would be delicious with this lemon sponge cake!
• Chocolate ganache: If you’re a chocolate fan, chocolate ganache is probably already your best friend, and for a good reason! It’s delicious!

How to make the best lemon victoria sponge cake:

• Work the lemon zest and sugar together to release the lemons essential oils.
• Cream the butter into the lemon sugar.
• Add the rest of the wet ingredients.
• Sprinkle in the dry ingredients.
• Mix until no flour is remaining and you’re left with a smooth batter.
• Transfer the batter to prepared cake pans and bake.
• For best results. MAKE SURE YOU LET THE CAKE LAYERS COOL.
• In the meantime, whip the cream to stiff peaks.
• Layer up the cake and top with powdered sugar!

PSA:

If your batter breaks and looks curdled after combining all the wet ingredients, DON’T FREAK OUT! Chances are some of your ingredients were much colder than others and are having a hard time trying to emulsify. Once you add the dry ingredients, they will soak right into your batter and everything will be good as new!