Victoria Sponge

Britain — Victorian era; popularised during Queen Victoria's reign (1837–1901); the cake became the defining British teatime cake by the 20th century

Britain's most classic teatime cake — two shallow rounds of equal-weight sponge (butter, sugar, eggs, flour in 1:1:1:1 ratio by weight) sandwiched with raspberry jam and whipped or clotted cream, the top dusted with icing sugar rather than iced. Named for Queen Victoria who reportedly enjoyed it at afternoon tea, the Victoria sponge is the benchmark against which British home baking is measured. The 'all-in-one' method (beat all ingredients simultaneously) has replaced the traditional creaming method in most modern recipes; both produce an acceptable result, but the creaming method (cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add eggs and flour) produces a finer, more delicate crumb. The cake should be springy, golden, and risen evenly without a dome.

• Shares the equal-weight-creamed-sponge concept with French génoise (different method — melted butter, whole eggs beaten over heat) and Austrian Wiener Biskuit; the jam-and-cream sandwich format parallels Danish lagkage and Swedish prinsesstårta; as the national benchmark cake it parallels Germany's Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Afternoon tea (3–5pm) with Earl Grey or Darjeeling; at Women's Institute shows (where it is judged competitively); at birthday teas; the simple butter-jam-cream combination is the classic British tea table flavour