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Sponge Cake Day
"Afternoon tea should be provided, fresh supplies, with thin bread-and-butter, fancy pastries, cakes, etc., being brought in as other guests arrive."
~ Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, Isabella Beeton, 1861
Bakers, tea drinkers, and dessert lovers, this tartan looks delicious enough to serve on a cake stand! Designed to complement a tea blend from a tea company, this vanilla cream tartan evokes layers of golden sponge cake, raspberry jam, creamy marzipan, and the comforting tones of tea and coffee. In fact, if tartans came with calorie counts, this one might require a warning label. Fortunately, unlike a Victoria sponge, you can admire it as often as you like without worrying about a second helping!
There's nothing quite as refreshing as a cup of tea, especially when accompanied by a sweet treat such as sponge cake. Light and airy, sponge cakes are traditionally made from eggs, flour, and sugar, with their delicate texture created by beaten eggs acting as a natural raising agent. While most sponge cakes contain both egg whites and yolks, some varieties, such as angel food cake, use only the whites. The sponge cake as we know it today emerged in the mid-18th century, when bakers began relying on whipped eggs to create a lighter cake.
A major development came in 1843 when English food manufacturer Alfred Bird introduced baking powder, making it possible to add butter to the traditional recipe and leading to the creation of the famous Victoria sponge, or Victoria sandwich cake. Named after Queen Victoria, who was said to enjoy a slice with her afternoon tea, the original version was simply filled with jam, although modern recipes often add a generous layer of cream as well.
Whether your preference is for a classic Victoria sponge, a neat slice of Battenberg, or just another cup of tea, this tartan serves up all the charm of the tea table without a crumb to clean up afterwards! 💛 🤍 🤎 💗 🫖 🍰 🍰 🍰
This tartan, designed by Tartan Caledonia is a fashion tartan celebrating the tastes and pleasures of tea and its classic accompaniments.
The earliest known recipe for sponge cake (or biscuit bread) from Gervase Markham's The English Huswife (1615) is prepared by mixing flour and sugar into eggs, then seasoning with anise and coriander seeds. 19th-century descriptions of "avral bread" (funeral biscuits) vary from place to place but it sometimes described as "sponge biscuits" or a "crisp sponge" with a light dusting of sugar".
Traditional American sponge recipes diverged from earlier methods of preparation, by adding ingredients like vinegar, baking powder, hot water or milk.
This basic recipe is also used for madeleines, ladyfingers, and trifles, as well as some versions of strawberry shortcake.
Although sponge cake is usually made without butter, its flavor is often enhanced with buttercream, pastry cream or other types of fillings and frostings. Sponge cake covered in boiled icing was very popular in American cuisine during the 1920s and 1930s.
Classic sponge cakes include
Angel food cake
Boston cream pie
Chiffon cake
Genoise
Pan di Spagna
Joconde cake
Pão-de-Ló
Plava
Swiss roll
Tipsy cake
Trifle
Victoria sponge
For a classic Victoria Sponge by master baker Mary Berry, click the tea setting!