Victoria Sponge Cake with Balsamic Strawberries

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and line two 8-inch circular baking tins with parchment paper.

Break eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, cake flour, baking powder and softened butter. Mix until combined, making sure not to over-mix. The finished mixture should have a “soft dropping” consistency—that is, you should be able to scoop it, but it should still fall off a spoon easily.

Divide mixture evenly between baking tins. Smooth the surface, favouring the outsides slightly (as the centres tend to rise more). Place tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. The cakes should be golden-brown, pulling away from the edges of the tins, and cooked through.

Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool in their tins for 5 minutes. Run a palette knife around the inside edge of the tin and gently turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

For the balsamic strawberry reduction:
If you want to skip this step, you can use a store bought strawberry jam. But make it a good one!

Mix strawberries, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar. Reduce the mixture over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Don’t stir too often, you don’t want the strawberries to breakdown and turn into mush. Reduce until desired taste and consistency (for me, this means the mixture reduces to just a little more than half it’s original volume). If your reduction becomes too tart, add a little sugar and/or water to fix.

For the Chantilly cream:
“Chantilly” is fancy French-speak for a sweetened whipped cream. Don’t let it daunt you. All you have to do is vigorously whip sugar, vanilla extract, and whipping cream until soft peaks are formed.

To assemble, place one cake upside down and spread the Chantilly cream, and then the balsamic strawberry reduction. Top with the second cake, top-side up. Spread Chantilly cream on top, and garnish using fresh strawberries and powdered sugar.