Last weekend, I had the privilege of hosting a bridal shower for my best friend in the world, Laura. All the bridesmaids hosted a travel-themed party for our bride to celebrate her globe trotting relationship with her fiance!

While themes aren’t my forte, her sister Gabby had some awesome ideas and the group of us had so much fun brainstorming how we could incorporate the theme into every part of the party! There were gorgeous map garlands, a travel journal that each guest made recommendations of where to go visit, and even luggage tag favors! My main contribution was *unsurprisingly* food-related. We assigned a country to each dish we served. Some were obvious, like tinto de verano from Spain, or biscotti from Italy. Some I stretched a bit, like calling the veggie tray Greek, but oh well! I made  nutella brownies and spinach dip, but for a more adventurous contribution I took on a Victoria sponge to represent the United Kingdom in our global feast.

We had such a great time celebrating Laura and her upcoming marriage! I can’t wait to see where in the world life takes them. But today, let’s enjoy some of Britain’s best dessert in cupcake form. I used Jamie Oliver’s Cook with Jamie for the recipe.

Cream the butter until lighter in color and fluffy.

Add sugar and beat well.

Add the eggs, one at a time. This helps the eggs combine properly in small amounts instead of all at once.

Self-rising flour isn’t something I keep in the house very often, so I used a substitute: for every cup of self-rising flour, combine one cup all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well, then add into the recipe slowly.

Add the flour and lemon juice, but don’t overbeat! Spoon into muffin tins.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown, then pull out to cool on a rack.

We had a blast celebrating this bride!

Victoria Sponge Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups self-rising flour*
• 3/4 cup & 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Put cupcake liners into two cupcake tins. (I ended up making 21 cupcakes, the recipe makes 18-21.)
2. Beat the butter for a few minutes on high, then incorporate the sugar. Beat for two minutes until well combined.
3. Add the eggs one at a time. Fully mix each one before adding the next.
4. Add the lemon juice and mix in flour slowly. Batter will be thick.
5. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Remove from the muffin tin and let cool on a rack.
7. Once fully cooled, frost with whatever you choose! This time I made a raspberry glaze out of fresh raspberries & powdered sugar – it seemed to fit the British theme, as well as a lighter option fitting a bridal shower.

*= self-rising flour isn’t something I keep in the house, so I made my own. For every cup, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

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