The 5 All Time Top British Cakes

Baking is a British institution with cake baking the most popular. Britain has a long love affair with the cake with some recipes going back several centuries. There are some cakes however that remain forever favorites of the British tea table. Here are the favorites of all time.

  • 01 of 05

    Classic Lemon Drizzle Cake

    lemon-drizzle-cake
    Lemon Drizzle Cake. Elaine Lemm

    There are so many lemon drizzle cakes recipes out there, but this is one we learned (many) years ago in school. A classic of its time.

  • 02 of 05

    Traditional Chocolate Cake

    Chocolate sponge cake

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

    Top of the list of the top 5 has to be the chocolate sponge cake. Let's face it, who doesn't love a slice. This recipe makes one of the best cakes we have ever baked or eaten.

    The recipe has been slightly adjusted to use ingredients more popular today.

  • 03 of 05

    The Classic Victoria Sponge Cake

    Victoria sponge cake

    The Spruce

    Up there in the top 5 is the Victoria Sponge; the cake which all bakers aspire to make the lightest, tastiest ever. The delicate sponge is the stuff of village fetes, the WI, and competition for the best cake is fierce.

    Who can make the lightest, softest sponge is an accolade many aspire to. It is not that difficult if you do struggle, take a look at the tips below. They may well help you to win the coveted prize.

    Another classic for the top five is a variation on the classic Victoria Sponge, the Strawberry Cream Sponge. Rather than using jam, it has fresh strawberries and cream. Essentially, summer in a cake.

  • 04 of 05

    The Traditional British Rich Fruit Cake

    Traditional British Christmas Cake

    The Spruce

    The most famous British fruitcake must be the Christmas Cake. No other cake is so laden with rich dried fruits and spices. This cake is eaten only at Christmas and the rest of the year is reserved for a slightly lighter, yet still rich fruit cake and Brack, a fruitcake not just in Ireland but loved in Yorkshire too.

    Continue to 5 of 5 below.
  • 05 of 05

    A Frivolous, Fun Battenberg Cake

    Battenberg cake

    The Spruce

    No way would this list be complete without one of the most cheering of traditional British cakes, the Battenberg.

    No cake is more British than a frivolous Battenberg cake. At any afternoon tea, in fact, on any occasion bring out a Battenberg cake and watch smiles all round. There is something cheering about the distinctive pink and yellow squares tightly wrapped in a thick layer of marzipan that no other cake seems able to achieve.