Foods of England - Tonbridge Cakes

Tonbridge Cakes

Biscuits
Kent

(or Tonbridge or Tunbridge Biscuits)

Rich paste biscuits with caraway seed.

Compare with: Goosnargh Cake

Original Receipt in 'The Cook and Housekeeper's Dictionary' by Mary Eaton (Eaton 1822);

TUNBRIDGE CAKES. Rub six ounces of butter quite fine into a pound of flour; then mix six ounces of sugar, beat and strain two eggs, and make the whole into a paste. Roll it very thin, and cut it with the top of a glass. Prick the cakes with a fork, and cover them with carraways; or wash them with the white of an egg and dust a little white sugar over.

Original Receipt from 'The Practical Cook' (1845)

Tunbridge Cakes
Three pounds of fine flour, one pound of lump sugar pounded, two ounces of caraway seeds, one quart of milk, four ounces of butter; mix altogether into a paste, roll it out very thin, cut it with the top of a wine-glass, and bake the cakes on a tin.

Original Receipt from 'Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery' (Cassell 1883)

Tunbridge Cakes.- Rub two ounces of fresh butter into half a pound of dried and sifted flour. Add a pinch of salt, four ounces of powdered white sugar, two ounces of caraway seeds, and as much water as will be required to make a stiff paste. Roll this out very thin, stamp it into small rounds, prick the surface lightly with a fork, and bake the cakes in a well-heated oven. Time to bake, fifteen to thirty minutes, according to size. Probable cost, 6d. for this quantity.

MORE FROM Foods of England...
Cookbooks ● Diary ● Index ● Magic Menu ● Random ● Really English? ● Timeline ● Donate ● English Service ● Food Map of England ● Lost Foods ● Accompaniments ● Biscuits ● Breads ● Cakes and Scones ● Cheeses ● Classic Meals ● Curry Dishes ● Dairy ● Drinks ● Egg Dishes ● Fish ● Fruit ● Fruits & Vegetables ● Game & Offal ● Meat & Meat Dishes ● Pastries and Pies ● Pot Meals ● Poultry ● Preserves & Jams ● Puddings & Sweets ● Sauces and Spicery ● Sausages ● Scones ● Soups ● Sweets and Toffee ● About ... ● Bookshop ●

Email: [email protected]