Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Would a Victoria sponge be strong enough to be covered in fondant and made as a tiered cake or is it better to use a Madeira?

Hi clan

Depends which tier it’s going to be. Personally I don’t think the weight of the icing would do it any good. I think a madeira or a more dense sponge like this http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10860/easy-vanilla-cake would be better. That small amount of plain flour makes a lot of difference to the density if you don’t want to do a madeira. I know some people do use victoria sponge recipe, I wouldn’t be happy with it. I’m sure other members will add their thoughts.

I regularly use Victoria sponge and have never had any problems before. The largest I hauve done all Victoria sponge is a 12-10-8″ 3 tier and there were no problems whatsoever with the weight. I guess like anything though it could vary depending on your individual recipe and how thin you roll your sugarpaste out. I do let my cakes settle overnight too. Good luck.

Leanne, when you say that you let your cakes settle do you mean you cover them in buttercream and leave them to crust before covering them in fondant?

I would also like to know if you cover the Victoria sponge in buttercream before applying fondant? Is buttercream the best covering to use on a Victoria sponge if you want to then apply fondant and decorate. Many thanks, Penny

Hi Penny

Cakes can be crumb coated with buttercream if that is what you prefer. Use a crusting BC recipe or use royal icing, icing sugar instead of normal icing sugar. RI sugar contains egg white powder which helps the crusting. A quick google search will yield lots of recipes from which to choose from.

Adding a little ganache to BC will also help it to crust over. That information is contained in my buttercream blog here:

How much buttercream do you need to cover a cake?

Hope suggestions help. ?

ps:
Some Victoria sponge recipes are very light and not suitable to take the weight of fondant. Mrs Jones’ recipe asks to increase the flour by an extra 10% to strengthen the texture for enrobing.