A sponge cake by definition is made with whipped eggs. It’s not made with the creaming method. When Brits want to complain about “biscuits” being scones (a common occurrence), I hit them right back with “sponge”. “Vanilla sponge”? Vanilla butter cake! I mean literally a recipe for an American vanilla cake gets called a “vanilla sponge” there, and that’s perfectly fine because different places have different terms, but it doesn’t make it an actual sponge cake.
And a Victoria sponge is a pound cake. A modern one because of the inclusion of baking powder, because if you get really traditional pound cakes don’t include baking powder (though modern pound cakes are more likely to include it than not), but a pound cake nonetheless. It belongs in a separate category entirely from sponge cakes. Nicola Lamb who wrote that article says it explicitly, and Felicity Cloake who also did a bunch of testing acknowledges as well that it’s not a sponge cake.
Roasted cauliflower and caramelized onion tart baked in a deep quiche pan.
Mostly vegetables, with cheese and a little custard to bind them. Eggs, drained whole milk greek yogurt, and milk for the custard. Aged gouda, toscano, and a shredded mix I don’t like but need to use up for the cheese. 2019 vintage TJs all-butter pie crust from the freezer ftw.
Loosely inspired by seeing a pic of this SK version of a Bon Appetit recipe on IG (but I did not actually follow the recipe – in case the weird ingredients didn’t make that clear ).
Please feel free to call it whatever you chose, but in the US, most people would relate to a standard Bundt style poundcake as being considerably different from a Victorian sponge cake.
And to complicate things, my personal preference is for an Italian sponge cake made with potato starch.
8x2 quiche pan took about 80% of the pie crust, which I par baked.
Half a huge cauliflower chopped small to maximize caramelization and speed up cooking, half an onion sliced and put in on a separate pan halfway through (took much less time than the cauliflower).
Mustard on the bottom, layered half the veg, then cheese, then rest of veg, a bit more cheese, custard, pressed down to distribute the custard and submerge veg (just barely).
Thank you! I will most likely not parbake crust. I find I can get a well cooked bottom crust by freezing it first and using Fat Daddio’s tart tins which conduct heat very well ( on a stone). Sounds counter intuitive but it works for me.
Thanks again for your tips!
Reporting back on the Classic Victorian Sponge, the cake has stayed very moist overnight. The syrup was more evenly distributed throughout the cake and the jam also contributed to the moistness.The jigger of Pellegrino is under scientific review. The texture changed as well in a positive way. @mig If you choose to make this again, the syrup was a generous tablespoon per layer.
“Vanilla sponge”? Vanilla butter cake! I mean literally a recipe for an American vanilla cake gets called a “vanilla sponge” there, and that’s perfectly fine because different places have different terms, but it doesn’t make it an actual sponge cake.
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