[Sca-cooks] victoria

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Elysant1 at aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 7/2/01 8:58:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, troy at asan.com
> writes:
>
> << Victoria sponge is a product from which Victoria Sandwiches, as well as
>  several other things (trifle, lamingtons, petits fours, etc), can be
>  made, although once upon a time it was used exclusively for Victoria
>  Sandwiches >>
>
> I'm lost here Master A. :-(  I always thought a Victoria Sandwich was called
> that because it was jam sandwiched between two layers of cake....

Correct. Or so I assume. My point is that instead of jumping up and
down, holding one's breath until one's face turns blue, etc., denying
the reality that there is a product known as Victoria Sponge, identical
in substance to the stuff used for Victoria Sandwiches, just not
necessarily put to that use, is pointless.

Or...

In the beginning there was the Victoria Sandwich.

And Lo, somebody did once decide to cut up the sponge cake into small
cubes and dip them into fondant icing, or whatever, and they looked upon
them, and they were good, only they were not sandwiches. They were
little cakes made of the sponge cake used to make Victoria sandwiches.

And Lo, they became known as Victoria Sponge, for it is written, of any
substance mayst thou make sandwiches, including the batter for Victoria
Sandwiches, but sandwiches thou mayst not call these if thou slicest
them (sliceth?) not into sandwiches. But thou mayst refer to this batter
from which Victoria Sandwiches are made as Victoria Sponge, and thou may
use it for a bazillion different purposes in addition to Victoria
Sandwiches. But if thou useth it for a purpose other than for Victoria
Sandwiches, and sandwiches they are not, Victoria Sandwiches shalt thou
not call them. And they shall be known as Different Things Made from
Victoria Sponge, for that is the Sponge from which Victoria Sandwich(es)
is/are made.

> It is a spongey type round cake and one serves it in triangular slices just
> like with any other round cake.  I've never heard of Victoria sandwiches (as
> in little individual finger food type thingies). :-0    On another note, I
> have seen this same VS batter made into cup cakes and used for things like
> "butterfly cakes".

Mrs. Beeton (possible author of the earliest known written recipe for
same), and numerous other cookbook authors, however, are well acquainted
with the dish in little sandwich form. I think perhaps you're caught up
in the concept of the finger sandwich, which, originally, appears to be
the way Victoria Sandwiches were served, but it is the horizontal
splitting and filling with jam, or jam and cream, or whatever, that
establishes this as a sandwich, or many sandwiches if cut up smaller.
This is a bit like looking at the 6-foot hero, grinder, sub (insert
local dialect name for large sandwich here) that some people build or
buy for things like the Super Bowl. If it is in its whole state, it is
still a sandwich, isn't it?

All I was trying to make clear is that the fact that the preparation
known as Victoria Sandwich(es) appears to have been the original recipe
doesn't gainsay the existence of Victoria Sponge, which is essentially
the same thing, just used differently. You can use what many people call
cream puff or eclair paste for things other than cream puffs or eclairs,
and some of them are vastly different from cream puffs and eclairs, like
quenelles, for instance, but that doesn't stop many people from calling
it cream puff paste. Similarly, Victoria Sponge seems to have evolved as
the name for the stuff from which you make Victoria Sandwich(es), but if
you use it to line patty pans and then fill them with fruit, or put it
in a trifle, or petite-fours, etc., it is still Victoria Sponge, because
of the ingredients and preparation of the batter. On the other hand, if
these preparations are not sandwiches, why would anyone call them that?
I gather this is why you can find recipes for Victoria Sponge out there,
and why authors have not felt compelled to call them Victoria Sandwich.
That, and the fact that most modern recipes for VS (regardless of what
one claims the "S" stands for) are quite different from Mrs. Beeton's
[allegedly] earliest known recipe, so there's no longer much point
arguing legitimacy, orthodoxy, etc.

Adamantius, ready for another good round of discussion of Twinkies, or
do we have to wait for Papa to go to War first?
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98