Great Britain is known for its long history of cooking and delicious sweets, and cakes are no different. From old favourites to new creations, the English love sweets and can’t avoid them. This blog post will go into more detail about the most popular cakes in England and the UK. We will talk about where they come from, what they are made of, and what they mean to the people who eat them. You will want to take advantage of this delicious guide to the best cakes England offers, whether you live there and want to treat yourself to your favourite treat or just visit to try something new or want to send cake to the UK.
Lemon drizzle cake
Lemon drip cake is a classic British cake often served for afternoon tea. A Jewish woman named Evelyn Rose is thought to have made the first lemon drizzle in 1967, but not much else is known about its history. This simple sponge cake is often made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, baking powder, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
These things are mixed in a bowl, put on a baking sheet, and baked in the oven. Lemon juice and icing sugar are mixed, and the icing is spread over the cake after it’s done to give it a bright, lemony, and slightly sharp taste.
Victoria Sponge
This is an English cake with layers filled with fruit jam and sometimes whipped cream. In the 1800s, Queen Victoria’s cooks invented it. It was one of the main dishes at the Queen’s tea parties, along with sandwiches and cookies.
Most Victoria sponges are filled with raspberry or strawberry jam, but some newer versions are filled with apricot and greengage jam. Some experts, like the official Women’s Institute, say that a natural Victoria sponge can only have a jam filling. The whipped cream was added to the filling in the 20th century.
Parkin
Parkin, also called perkin, is a sticky cake from Northern England, though most people think of Yorkshire when they hear the name. It has either fat or butter, oatmeal, flour, and black treacle in it. Many cooks like to add a lot of ginger to food to strengthen the flavours.
When parkin is baked, it hardens, but if you leave it in a jar with a lid on top, it becomes soft and moist. Parkin is always ready for Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night), which is November 5, but many people also enjoy it in the winter.
Pound Cake
A British treat called pound cake is made with one pound of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, which is how it got its name. In the recipe, the only thing that makes it rise is the air that is whipped into the batter. The simple rule goes back to the early 1700s. At that time, many people didn’t know how to read, so it was easy to remember the recipe.
By the 1800s, the recipes started to differ from the original, and smaller amounts of the ingredients were used, making the cake lighter and smaller. The original cake was giant and could feed a lot of people. These days, learners make it even less thick, and some cooks like to add chocolate or orange zest to make it taste better.
Madeira Cake
It is not known how long this traditional English sponge cake has existed. Still, one of the first known recipes for Madeira cake can be found in Elizabeth Acton’s 1845 book Modern Cookery for Private Families.
Back then, the cake was often served with the famous Madeira wine from Portugal, where the name comes from. Today, a renowned teatime treat is crumbly Madeira cake with a lemon flavour. It is usually served with icing sugar and candied orange peel on top.
Battenberg Cake
Battenberg cake is a light dessert made of pieces of genoise sponge layered with apricot jam and almond paste and available in different colours. It is thought that the cake was created to honour the 1884 wedding of Prince Louis of Battenburg and Princess Victoria.
The four parts of the genoise sponge are thought to reflect Louis and his brothers, the four princes of Battenburg. Many people eat cake with afternoon tea.
Fifteens
Fifteens is a classic Northern Irish cake made with marshmallows, cherries, digestive cookies, and coconut. Usually, the treat is rolled into a log, put in the fridge to set, and then sliced. People all over the country can find it in many bakeries and at parties and events.
The dish’s name comes from the original recipe, which calls for fifteen of each ingredient.
Simnel cake
Simnel cake is an English treat usually made for Easter celebrations. The base consists of butter, sugar, eggs, and (sometimes) milk. After the bread is ready, it is mixed with dried fruit like sultanas, currants, and candied peel.
It tastes good with orange and lemon zest and a mix of spices like saffron, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. There is also a layer of marzipan in the middle of the cake and another layer on top of it. After it has been baked, eleven marzipan balls or eggs are placed on top to represent the prophets (except for Judas).
Dundee Cake
The traditional Scottish fruitcake with sultanas, candied peel, and almonds is called Dundee cake. It comes from the city of Dundee, and the name has been used for the first time in the late 1800s. Keiller’s, the famous marmalade makers from Dundee, are said to have been the first to make the cake. They baked cakes when they weren’t making marmalade, probably to use up extra citrus peel.
Keiller’s was the only professional bakery in Scotland that could make the famous cake until the 1970s. However, the recipe was widely copied in other parts of Britain. Cooks further south would often mix it with other traditional recipes, saying that the only thing that made Dundee cake different from other British fruitcakes was topping whole blanched almonds.
Conclusion
The UK has a vast range of cake flavours, from the traditional Victoria sponge and decadent chocolate to more unusual ones like sticky toffee and lemon drizzle. These flavours show the country’s rich food history and how different people’s likes are. There is a cake for every event and taste, whether you like old-fashioned recipes or ones with a modern twist. Enjoy the tastes that make parties and teatime special by giving yourself the best cakes in the UK from online cake delivery.
