Victoria Sandwich Cake, Reimagined

My first attempt at the classic Victoria Sandwich was a surprising success. My initial impression of the recipe was that it seemed a mite plain. Vanilla sponge, jam and cream.. that's it? But I figured a one-hundred-plus-year-old British recipe must hold some promise (and it was the most appropriate dessert for Victoria Palooza.) The result? It was perfect. Perfectly simple. In fact, it deserves a place on that Perfectly Simple list I shared a while back, along with 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies and little black dresses. The buttery rich cake paired with my homemade strawberry jam and cloud-like whipped cream. *sigh* It's good, that's all I can say.

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As is my nature, I have trouble leaving well enough alone, so I wanted to revamp the Victoria Sandwich. Wouldn't chocolate cake be even better? Maybe a different jam too? And berries! And flowers! So here's the result: Victoria Sandwich Reimagined, or the Anti-Victoria Sandwich, or Victoria Sandwich Goes to the Dark Side. Haha! Whatever you want to call it, it's a tad more interesting than the classic, with the same perfect simplicity of flavor.

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I made this cake a couple months ago... before blackberry season in Wisconsin and before the cursed rabbit in our backyard ate all of my prized pansy blossoms. (I'll need to have a word with Pruitt about taking his pest control duties more seriously. He's been slacking.)

To make this fancier sandwich cake...

Here's what you'll need

• Two 9-inch layers of chocolate cake (the foolproof Betty Crocker recipe.)

• Pint of blackberries, washed and well-dried on paper towel

• 1/2 to 3/4 C. of blackberry jam

• 2 C. heavy whipping cream (recipe here. Also marvelous made with a splash of brandy.)

• optional: pansies or other edible flowers

How-to

• Apply a thinish layer of jam on the bottom layer of cake.

• Spread on half of the whipped cream. I used an offset frosting spatula to sweep a bit of the jam up into the cream, so the lovely berry color would be visible. Otherwise the jam doesn't show up too well against the dark chocolate cake.

• Place the second cake layer on top. This filling is more forgiving than a stiff buttercream would be, so if the cake layer is not centered right away, you'll have some wiggle room to fix it. :)

• Arrange berries in the center of the cake, leaving about 1 inch of the edge clear.

• With the remaining whipped cream, pipe rosettes all around the edge. (I didn't feel like putting together a piping bag for this, so I just used a gallon Ziploc with the corner cut out. It works!)

Note: Keep the cream as cold as possible. If it starts separating, just pop it back in the fridge to chill.

• Lastly, add your decorative flowers for the perfect summery accent.

Hope you enjoy this over-the-top variation of the classic Victoria Sandwich. Or if you want to keep it simple, here's the original. ;)

Happy baking!

'Til next time,

Eva