Sweet Treats: Indulge in Bad Girl Bakery’s raspberry Victoria sponge cake

You can have your cake and eat it thanks to the team at Bad Girl Bakery who have shared a showstopper of a recipe.

There’s nothing a spot of cake can’t fix, so if you’re looking for a pick-me-up then this little number is just the ticket.

However serving six to eight people, it might not be so little after all.

With restrictions continuing to ease and families and friends able to reconnect, more so al fresco, many are now meeting outside to celebrate loved ones’ special days.

And if there’s a birthday on the horizon, this raspberry Victoria sponge layer cake from the team at Bad Girl Bakery would make the perfect centrepiece.

Based in Muir of Ord, just outside Inverness, the Highland bakery is owned by husband and wife team Douglas and Jeni Hardie.

So why not bake this delight for someone in your bubble to make their special day that little bit more special.

You’ll find more recipes in our Sweet Treats series here.

Raspberry Victoria sponge layer cake

(Serves 6-8) 

Ingredients

For the sponge:

• 375g unsalted butter or baking margarine
• 375g caster sugar
• 6 medium eggs
• 375g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the buttercream:

• 3 x 250g unsalted butter
• 1.05kg icing sugar
• 1 tsp good vanilla extract
• For the filling and decoration:
• Fresh raspberries
• Good-quality raspberry jam

Method

1. To make the sponge: Preheat your oven to 150C Fan/170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
2. Beat the butter, vanilla and sugar together until colour is lighter and looks fluffy.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of the flour, trying not to add the next one until the previous one is mixed. If it splits, add more flour.
4. Add in more flour and mix until smooth, then divide between two tins and smooth it out. Bake in a greased tin for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. Let it cool before turning.
6. In the meantime, make the buttercream. To do this, soften the butter in short bursts in the microwave until really soft.
7. Beat the butter and vanilla until really smooth then add in the icing sugar.
8. For the filling and decoration, when the cake is cool, take the first layer and place it flat side down and pipe a dam of buttercream around the edge.
9. Pipe more in the centre, but just enough for a thin layer. Top this layer with raspberry jam and fresh berries.
10. Repeat with the next layer then top with the final cake (flat side up). Next, apply a crumb coat (very thin base layer of icing to set the cake).
11. Pop it in the fridge until this layer is set firm, then repeat with the final layer of icing.
12. Top with fresh raspberries, dots of jam and piped swirls if you’re feeling fancy!

Recipe courtesy of Bad Girl Bakery in Muir of Ord. Look out for their baking book of recipes in November.

For more in this series…