The name 'Victoria Cake' seems to first appear from the Italian celebrity chef Charles Elmé Francatelli in 1858, 4 years before Mrs Beeton took the name up, whose 'Victoria Sponge' (below) isn't the modern version at all.
Original Receipt in 'The Book of Household Management', 1861, edited by Isabella Beeton (See Mrs.B)VICTORIA SANDWICHES.
1491. INGREDIENTS: 4 eggs; their weight in pounded sugar, butter, and flour; ¼ saltspoonful of salt, a layer of any kind of jam or marmalade.
Mode: Beat the butter to a cream; dredge in the flour and pounded sugar; stir these ingredients well together, and add the eggs, which should be previously thoroughly whisked. When the mixture has been well beaten for about 10 minutes, butter a Yorkshire-pudding tin, pour in the batter, and bake it in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Let it cool, spread one half of the cake with a layer of nice preserve, place over it the other half of the cake, press the pieces slightly together, and then cut it into long finger-pieces; pile them in crossbars on a glass dish, and serve.
Time: 20 minutes.
Average cost: 1s. 3d.
Sufficient: for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable: at any time.
Mary Berry's perfect Victoria sandwich
Image: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food