Naked Victoria Sponge Cake

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

For the Cake

4 eggs, separated

¾ cup (150g) caster sugar

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour, sifted

1 tsp (5g) butter, melted

2 tbsp (40ml) milk, warm

1 tsp vanilla essence (*optional)

For the Filling

400ml thickened cream, whipped

250g lemon curd

½ lemon zested

Method

Preheat the oven at 180°C Conventional or 160°C Fan forced. Line a 20cm round cake tin and set aside.

Place the egg whites into a large mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until glossy with stiff peaks, slowly incorporating the sugar ⅓ at a time. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, into the meringue mixture. Carefully fold in the sifted flour into the mixture until well-combined. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla essence (*optional). Transfer the batter into the lined cake tin. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes until the surface becomes slightly golden brown or springs back when gently touched. Leave the cake to cool on a drying rack.

For the filling, whip the thickened cream until stiff peaks and place in a piping bag.

Place the lemon curd in another piping bag.

To assemble, using a serrated knife cut the cake into 2 even layers.

Place the top layer of cake with indent on the base and pipe the cream followed by the lemon curd. Place the other disc of cake on top and pipe on the remaining cream. Using a palette knife gently spread the cream all around the cake to form a thin layer and scatter lemon zest on top.