The classic and elegant Victoria Sponge Cake gets a low carb, gluten-free makeover. This healthy keto dessert is a must-make.
Are you a Downton Abbey fan or do you think it’s the Masterpiece Theater equivalent of a fluffy meaningless soap opera? I don’t really care what the critics may say, I am addicted. Regardless of increasingly complicated plot lines and lack of significant historical commentary, I can’t take my eyes off the show and the characters. I adore them all, even the villainous Thomas and all his machinations. We DVR it every week so we can watch it at our leisure. Which means that I haven’t yet seen the season finale from last night and I will kill you if you spoil the ending for me. I am not making idle threats!
I have a long-standing love of British period pieces, both written and filmed, and it hardly matters what period we’re talking about. Growing up, our bookshelves were filled with classic novels and being an avid reader, I was devouring them all at quite a young age. Thomas Hardy, DH Lawrence, Dickens, The Bronte sisters, George Eliot, W. Somerset Maugham, E.M. Forster; anything from Jane Austen forward, I was reading. I probably didn’t understand some of the more complicated portions and I certainly didn’t understand the historical significance of these books, but I drank it all in, practically by osmosis. Sure, I read my fair share of Sweet Valley High and The Babysitters’ Club, but if it was British and written in a bygone era, I ate it up with a spoon.
So you can see why Downton is just the sort of television series I would like. I don’t have a lot of time for TV, but my husband and I like to pick a series to watch together and do “date nights”. We set our kids up with a movie and dinner downstairs while we repair to the other TV with plates of something delicious and a drink or two. We get ourselves really into it, discussing the characters like they are close friends. And every word that comes out of Dame Maggie Smith’s mouth quickly becomes quotable material for us. Recording it is important because we have to often stop and hit replay on a few of the more intense, or funny, scenes, just to enjoy them again.
And I am always eyeing Mrs. Patmore’s culinary creations. Even though good ol’ Queen Vic had passed by the time Downton Abbey takes place, I could easily see a Victoria Sponge being served to the Crawleys at tea time. They are such a simple and yet elegant cake. Most recipes use clotted cream, one of my favorite British treats, but I wasn’t about to go spend $7 a bottle (and I’d likely have needed two or three bottles for this cake). So I faked my own version by over-whipping heavy cream, which I’ve always noticed looks and tastes like clotted cream. And I have to give a shout out to my favorite brand of whipping cream, Organic Valley (no, I am not being paid for this, but oh man, I love the stuff). There are no fillers or gums or preservatives; it’s just straight up heavy cream from organic and mostly pastured cows. I easily go through two or three pints a week. One of the things I love about it is the clumpy stuff that often collects just at the top. No, my friends, that is not a sign the cream has gone bad. That’s the good thick, almost clotted cream rising to the very top. If you can’t manage to mix it back into the rest of the cream, grab a spoon and dig in. It’s delicious and far too good to waste!
Check out this post from The View from Great Island to make your own Homemade Clotted Cream.
Victoria Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup whey protein powder
- 2 tsp grain-free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond or cashew milk, unsweetened
Filling:
- 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp confectioner’s Swerve Sweetener
- 1 cup raspberry chia seed jam
- 1 tsp confectioner's Swerve for dusting the cake
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease 2 circular 9-inch cake pans very well (if your pans are not very non-stick, line them with circles of parchment and grease the parchment paper too). You can also use 8-inch round pans but your cake layers will take a little longer to bake.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, whey protein powder, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well combined. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Beat in half of the almond flour mixture, then beat in nut milk. Beat in the remaining almond flour mixture until well combined. Divide batter between prepared cake pans and use a knife or offset spatula to smooth the top.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and the top is just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 10 minutes in pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling:
- Beat whipping cream with powdered sweetener past the "whipped cream" stage. It should not be smooth and homogenous-looking, but instead be a bit thicker and look somewhat clotted or clumpy. Do not keep beating after this or you will soon have butter.
- Place one cake layer on a serving platter and spread with chia seed jam. Spread the clotted cream over top of the jam and place the second cake layer on top.
- Dust powdered sweetener over top.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
My Brit husband is gonna Fuh-reak! Thank you for this recipe!!!! Cheers!
Carolyn this looks wonderful I will be trying it soon. In 2000 I took a trip to London with my Mom and Sis, we had the best tasting cake I think it was called sticky toffee pudding cake. I wonder if you could work your magic on that recipe? Thanks for all your hard work.
This looks wonderful, Carolyn! I live in the UK and Victoria Sponge is the most popular cake for tea. My daughter and I love Downton too! She is away at university now so every Christmas we buy the DVD of the last season and spend a day watching the whole thing while wrapping presents! I love your recipes and even though I develop recipes too I recommend your site to my weight loss clients as a good resource for goodies. I even provide them with American cups and spoons so they follow your recipes more easily!
I was wondering if another protein powder would work…I can have butter, but most dairy is not my friend… 🙁 The whipping cream is easily subbed with coconut cream, but I just don’t know if a different type of protein powder would work instead of whey? Or if something other than protein powder would work as I really don’t understand all of the intricacies of LC baking yet.
Yes, use egg white protein powder. A brand called Deb El is what I use, found in the baking aisle of many grocery stores.
can i just use egg whites whisked? where i am from no stores are selling egg white protein powder . thanks
Nope, that throws of the wet to dry ratio.
Carolyn — you are genius!! I just watched the final episode of Great British Baking and was thinking how hard would a LC Victoria Spounge be? LOVE Downton also 🙂
Blessings!
Gail
Could I sub in a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder to get a chocolate cake, or doesn’t it work that way?
No, that wouldn’t be chocolate-y enough. Use the chocolate cake from this recipe instead: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/11/chocolate-pound-cake-french-toast-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html
Jo, that sounds like a great idea, maybe with a chocolate ganache and coffee whipped cream. Mmm… Sounds great!
Made this tonight. Tasted like a scone in cake form. AH-MA-ZING.
Thank you!
Looks great! I also love DA! If you aren’t familiar with Georgette Heyer, you should get ye to the library because you will LOVE her books. She basically invented historical romance as a genre. And she is very witty.
Victoria sponge was a huge hit, made a blackberry jam for the filling (neither of us is a big raspberry fan). Now I am stuffed full of cake and cream, and still have half a cake left. Looks like he will get dessert in his to go lunch. Poor thing!
So glad you liked it! Blackberry sounds lovely too.
OMG! I been waiting for this recipe since you posted it in Instagram, can’t wait to try it.
Carolyn, could I use whey protein isolate interchangeably with the whey protein powder?
I’m not Carolyn but I saw your question and just wanted to let you know that I do use my Unflavored protein isolate on all her recipe and it comes out great, it works with both.
Great, thank-you!
Thanks for replying. I’ve never used it so that was helpful!
Your welcome, glad to help
Love Downton, the fashion & food of a time gone by we can visit via TV. Thought I would fill this wonderful cake with vanilla custard and top with strawberries. Will need to get out the china tea cups I think a tea party is in order, my granddaughters love coming over for a real “Victoria BC Tea”.
Is this like an angel food? Wondering if you could just bake in a bundt pan. Bet it would be good with strawberries and whipped cream.
No, it’s definitely not like angel food cake. It’s not nearly so light and airy.
Oh, but you could easily bake it in a bundt pan!
This looks wonderful!!—do you think it would be ok to sub the almond flour with sunflower meal??
You may get a greenish cake because of the way sunflower seeds react with baking powder. Try a few tbsp of lemon juice to help offset that. No matter what, your cake won’t have quite the same colour, because sunflower meal has that greyish colour.
I watched the Great British Bake-Off too, and they made this very dessert in the finale last night! They called them Victoria Sandwiches, but it was the same thing, cupcake version. I too love British period shows. I highly recommend The Paradise. It’s on Netflix if you have it. Also Call the Midwife. Love them!
This is amazing! Such a pretty cake!
!!
This is exciting, because I just watched THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF and was tootling about, trying to deconstruct and remake Mary Berry’s whole orange sponge cake. This gives me a quick leg up, and thank you very much!
Oh well now I HAVE to try that one!!!
Can you leave out the protein powder if you don’t have it?
Yes, but your cake won’t rise as well.
Carolyn, you have made my day, too! LOVE Victoria sponge and have always wished for an LC version. I have been re-reading some old Rosamund Pilcher books over the past few weeks and the characters are always having tea and scones…or gingerbread…or Victoria Sponge. Every time I put down the current book, I feel like running out to the nearest bakery posthaste! (Yes, Downton Abbey has the same effect.) This will be appearing soon on our tea table here in ever-so-refined St. Augustine, FL!
This is amazing; I have always wanted to try a Victoria Sponge & so I shall at last! I too, love British Period pieces and can frequently be found watching some BBC or Masterpiece show on Netflix or Amazon (so much so my roommates just look at the screen and say “British?” when the enter the room). I’m so excited to try this, thanks Carolyn!
So glad!
OMG! You just made my day. Low carb Victoria Sponge! I am probably the biggest anglophile on the planet. I even married one. I lived in London as a kid and oh man I remember the sponges you could buy in the high street, scrumptious!
Downtown Abbey is also my all time favorite, and I TiVo it to watch the next day, so can’t wait!
I have all I need so will make it TODAY!
Thank you, thank you!
You are very welcome!