Victorian Sponge Cake Jar

Written By Rewati Kulkarni
Victorian Sponge Cake Jar With Meyer Lemon Black Tea Whipped Cream

Makes: 1 medium sized cake jar. Serving size as seen.

If you ever find yourself with scraps of cake from another one you’ve baked, cake jars are a great way to use those trimmings off!

Ingredients

GROUP A: SPONGE CAKE

  • 1 egg

  • 2 oz salted butter

  • 1/4 cup fine granulated brown sugar

  • 1/4 cup AP flour

  • Pinch of baking powder

  • 1 tsp marmalade

  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

GROUP B: SOAKING SYRUP

  • 1 Meyer lemon, juiced

  • 1 1/2 tsp granulated white sugar

GROUP C: WHIPPED CREAM

  • 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream

  • 1/2 tsp loose leaf black tea

  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger

  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

  • 2 whole cloves

  • 1/2 Meyer lemon, zested

  • 1 tbsp icing sugar

Method

  • Prep the cream: Mix the loose leaf tea, lemon zest, cloves, cardamom, and ginger into the heavy cream. Simmer it on medium heat, then let it steep at room temperature for 20 - 25 minutes. Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve to discard the tea and spices. Refrigerate the cream for 20 minutes to chill it completely, then whip it to slightly stiff peaks, and fold in the icing sugar. Refrigerate again till it is time to assemble the cake jar.

  • Bake the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and dust your cake mold of choice ( I used an ~ 3.75” ramekin). In a deep bowl, cream the butter and sugar together till the mixture is pale and light, as opposed to the dark brown (sugar) & yellow (butter) combination in the beginning. Whisk in the egg and vanilla till the mixture becomes uniform. Add half the flour and the marmalade, and fold the batter gently; it’s okay to have flour streaks. Add the remaining flour and the baking powder, and this time, fold till there is no dry streak remaining. Pour the batter into the prepared mold and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, till the cake has risen and skewer inserted into its center comes out clean. Pop the cake onto a wire rack and let it cool completely at room temperature for 25 - 30 minutes.

  • Make the syrup: Add the lemon juice and sugar to a glass jar and shake vigorously to mix.

  • Assembly: Cut the cooled down cake horizontally in half. Set out a clean glass jar, 9 - 10 oz capacity. Soak both halves of the sponge cake with the lemon syrup. Take one half of the cake and roughly tear it apart by hand into small pieces. Create a layer at the bottom of one jar. Add a dollop of the Meyer lemon black tea whipped cream. Continue to build layers till the jar is full. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Rewati Kulkarni
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