British Dessert / Tea

Victoria Cake*
(Serves 8)

Making this elegant but simple recipe is a cake walk...so to speak.

2 round layers of any white cake
1/2 tsp. lemon zest (grated)
raspberry jam
confectioner's sugar

Add lemon zest to your favorite white cake recipe and bake in two round cake pans, according to instructions. Remove cake from pans when cool. Heat raspberry jam to make it spread easily, and spread between the two layers. Put layers together and dust the top with sifted confectioners’ sugar.

* Perfect for tea-time as well as dessert.

| See more British recipes |

Tips & Glossary

Clotted Cream: a thick yellowish cream made from unpasturized cow's milk. You can make your own, although it's hard to find unpasturized cream in the U.S. Still, you'll find 3 recipes under Scones. All use pasturized cream; try to avoid "ultra" pasturized.

Ploughman's Lunch: sounds romantic, like a peasant dish from medieval times, but it's a marketing gimmick from the 1970's! It's become a popular lunch in Britain now: a piece of bread, hunk of cheese, with onion, gherkin, and an apple. Our Ploughman's Soup is a take-off on that name.

Roux: (“roo”), paste-like mixture of melted butter and flour, into which liquid is gradually added. Used as a thickening agent for soups and all classic French sauces. Basic Roux: melt 1 part butter and add 1 part flour. Stir continuously till it becomes paste-like. Slowly add whatever liquid your recipe calls for.

Tea Time: Afternoon tea became fashionable in the mid-1600's. A light snack with sandwiches and sweets, it's served from 3-5 in a sitting room. High tea, is a light meal served from 5-6 in a dining room. ("High" because the dining table is higher than the low ones in a sitting room.)

Yorkshire Pudding: from the northern county of Yorkshire, originating in the early 1700s when flour was more readily available. A pancake like batter is spooned into the drippings of a roast as it cooks. Eaten alongside the roast or as a separate course.