So summer has finally arrived and it is HOT !!! It’s time for BBQ’s, picnics, afternoon teas and summer Fetes, and we may be called upon to produce a good old fashioned Victoria Sponge, either dressed traditionally with Buttercream and Strawberry Jam with a sprinkling of caster sugar, or with lashings of fresh whipped cream and gorgeous juicy ripe in season strawberries, however you decide to enjoy your Victoria Sponge nothing screams summer more than this classic.

Deciding to go completely vegan I embarked on a journey of finding great alternatives to the foods I love, so I don’t feel I am depriving myself of the things I enjoy and I am not missing out on the fun everyone is having in the sunshine, I have been researching some wonderful alternatives, and this Victoria Sponge recipe is just that, it just tastes like a Victoria Sponge !!!! So if your vegan, or just wanting to try a few vegan alternatives, or need a good recipe for friends and family, I will try and post all the good ones that I find along my journey and this Victoria Sponge recipe really comes up trumps.

I decided to finish mine with Strawberry Jam and Vegan Elmlea Double Cream, its what I had in the fridge, it needed using up and as I was just baking this for a trial recipe it was the sponge that was under scrutiny not the filling !!! I had already on a previous vegan Palova recipe discovered the wonderful Elmlea Cream and mentioned that in fact myself and my daughter actually prefer it to dairy cream. You could however use vegan butter and make butter cream, what ever floats your boat, its all trial and error and finding what works best for you, mix and match with in season fruit, or out of season maybe lemon curd and cream, you can really play around with this recipe.

As I type this post I am outside enjoying the heat, but I can smell rain in the air, I think a thunderstorm is on its way, lets hope I haven’t jinx the good weather with starting this post with “summer has finally arrive’!!!! So I had better wrap this post up and if the rain does come maybe shoot off to get a climbing session in, climbing is my new passion, so watch this space for possible climbing recipes that are full of protein, snacks that I can consume before and after climbing, but will most definitely be vegan.

And who ever said that woman over 50 and on a vegan diet can’t produce muscle were wrong! 😂

Love Di 💋

240ml of dairy-free milk (I used coconut, you know it’s my favourite 😉)

1 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar

210g of self-raising flour

200g of caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

60g of vegetable oil / melted coconut oil (I used coconut just because I prefer the flavour)

1 teaspoons of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean pop (seeds only)

To finish your cake:- Fresh Strawberries or fresh fruit of your choice or what ever is in season, Jam or Curd of choice, Vegan double cream whipped with a little icing sugar for sweetness, maybe butter cream, but most definitely a sprinkle of caster sugar over the top for that classic Victoria Sponge finish.

Preheat your oven to 180c/fan. 

Line two, 6 inch cake tins with grease-proof paper. I only had 8 inch so my cakes were a bit thin, but next time I will double the recipe for thicker cakes.

In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
Mix well to combine.

Add the oil and vanilla extract / seeds from a vanilla pod into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.

Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins.

Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles ( I forgot to do this and they turned out fine ).

Put the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes.

You will know they are done when you put a skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully.


Once cool, you can pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh or decorate (see above for suggestions) and enjoy.