Classic Victoria sponge recipe 'slashes the fat by half' using two ingredients

Classic Victoria sponge recipe 'slashes the fat by half' using two ingredients (Image: Getty)

Homemade cakes are the perfect sweet treat for any occasion, be it a birthday, anniversary, or simply celebrating some well-earned time off on a weekend.

A simple Victoria sponge cake is guaranteed to please a crowd and is incredibly straightforward to make. While the traditional recipe calls for a mixture of eggs, flour, butter, sugar, and jam, this low-fat version includes additional ingredients.

BBC Good Food shared this 'healthier Victoria sandwich' recipe, which makes enough for eight generous slices at just 9.3g of fat per serving—down from 27.05g per slice in a classic alternative.

The recipe creator said: "The classic tea time sponge cake is given a healthy makeover to slash the fat by half without losing any of the taste."

To make it healthier, the recipe uses eggs to lower the fat, reduces the butter, and uses yoghurt and rapeseed oil as substitutes to lower fat, especially saturates. There is also less sugar.

Top this classic cake with extra fruit - strawberries or raspberries work well (Image: Getty)

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Reduced-fat Victoria sponge recipe

Ingredients

• Two tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra for greasing
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 140g golden caster sugar
• 25g ground almonds
• Two large eggs
• 175g natural yoghurt
• Two or three drops of vanilla extract
• 25g butter, melted
• Four tbsp raspberry conserve
• Half tsp icing sugar, for dusting

Natural yoghurt and ground almonds are added to the mixture in place of some of the sugar and butter (Image: Getty)

Method

A hot oven is crucial to ensuring the sponge cakes rise to perfection, so start by preheating the appliance to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. You'll need two 18cm sandwich cake tins to achieve the iconic round shape.

Lightly grease the tins with some oil and line with baking parchment. You may need to cut this down slightly to avoid too much overhang.

For the cake mixture, combine the sieved flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar and ground almonds and stir gently.

Make a well in the centre of the bowl. Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir the yoghurt and vanilla into the egg mixture before pouring it into the well in the large bowl.

Melt the butter in a pan or the microwave, taking care not to burn it. Add this to the dry mixture along with the oil. Stir everything briefly together until well-combined.

The mixture should be light and pale by this point and ready to be transferred to the tins. Divide the mixture evenly and level the tops by gently tapping the tins onto a flat surface.

Bake both cakes side-by-side in the hot oven for 20 minutes, until risen. You'll know they're cooked when the mixture comes slightly away from the edges of the tins.

Take the cakes out of the oven and loosen the sides with a round-bladed knife. Leave the sponges to cool for 10 minutes before turning them onto a cooling rack.

If the tins are loose-bottomed, an easy way is to sit the tin on an upturned jam jar and let the outer ring of the tin drop down. Carefully peel off the lining paper and sit the cakes on a wire rack until completely cooled.

Place one cake on a serving plate and spread over the conserve. Gently place the second sponge on top and sift the icing sugar over the top to finish.