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Hey There!
I hope that you all had a wonderful Fourth of July!
The fellow and I went down to my folks’ house for a picnic, and it just poured the entire afternoon.
The weather station said it was supposed to be a pretty, clear, albeit hot day. Thankfully, my dad had hurried out and put tarps over the picnic tables as soon as he saw storm clouds rolling in.
When we got there, The Fellow helped my father pull the tables into the garage, and we just moved the whole shindig inside. Despite it being a wet afternoon, we had fun.
All of the neighbors came over and brought a dish to share. My father made some of his famous homemade ice cream (strawberry this time), and Mama asked that I bring something to complement it.
Now, I’ve been re-watching Downton Abbey lately, and I always keep an eye out for what Mrs. Patmore is putting onto those trays she sends upstairs. One thing I’ve noticed as a reoccurring treat are these sweet little layer cakes topped with powdered sugar. From where I’m sitting, it looks like a Victoria Sponge Cake
After watching the Great British Baking Show, I figured, why not? I would swap out the raspberry jam for strawberry, and it should go together nicely. I didn’t quite put together that I was making a British classic for our 4th of July celebration until it was too late (oops!).
Sticking with the BBC theme, I went off of Paul Hollywood’s recipe which had been converted into U.S. measurements.
This was my first experience with a Victoria Sponge, and I’m not sure if it’s the way the cake is intended to be or if it was the conversions or maybe the temperature of my butter may have had a bit to do with it, but my cake was more the consistency of a crumbly shortcake than a sponge.
I had way too much whipped cream left over after filling the two layers, so I went big and frosted the top and piled it with strawberries for decoration.
Overall, the recipe was still a success. It was a yummy summer dessert, if not what I was expecting. I think I may want to play around with this cake some. I’ll probably end up making a few versions before I settle on one I like.
Can anyone out there confirm the texture/consistency this should be? What are your favorite shortcake or Victoria Sponge recipes?!