
Great British Cake Map: Sweet treats from across the UK
From shortbread to bara brith, here are some of the UK's historic native bakes.
What would a Burns Night or St Andrew's Day be without a sugary petticoat of buttery shortbread?
A favourite in biscuit tins across the country, its origins lie in a medieval biscuit bread which was twice baked into a hard roll and dusted with sugar.
As the recipe adapted, swapping yeast for butter, shortbread grew into a buttery sweet treat that became refined during the 16th century thanks to Mary Queen of Scots' love of the biscuit.
Quintessentially Scottish and often housed in tartan-clad tins, shortbread is just one of the many cakes and biscuits which make up the rich buttery history of Scots sweet treats.
It's just one of many cakes and biscuits with Scottish roots that have been mapped out by holidaycottages.co.uk.
Creating a map of the UK covered in everything from scones to empire biscuits, they have come up with a set of illustrations showing just how varied each county's native treats are.
Empire Biscuits
The classic two-layer biscuit sandwiched with jam and topped with icing and a cherry actually began life as a Linzer or Deutsche Biscuit. When World War I broke out, hostility towards Germany saw the biscuit's moniker change repeatedly and often to derogatory terms. Eventually it was renamed the Empire Biscuit as a way of uniting the country against the enemy and the name stuck. It is particularly popular in Scotland, but also has links with New Zealand and Northern Ireland. It is sometimes called a Belgian biscuit thanks to its resemblance to a Belgian bun.
Raspberry Buns
Similar to America's thumbprint cookies, raspberry buns are made from a thick dough with a small crater pressed into the biscuit which is filled with raspberry jam and sometimes baked upside down to hide the jammy centre. Raspberry buns are similar in texture to a rock bun, a biscuit which gained in popularity during World War II as the recipe required less eggs and sugar during times of rationing, becoming a popular tea time treat.
Dundee Cake
A classic Scottish treat to adorn the tea table, Dundee Cake was created in the 19th century and made by the city's famous marmalade company Keillers. However, versions of the cake were made in Scotland long before the company began mass producing them, with one story rich with royal connections. It is said that Mary Queen of Scots did not like the cherries in traditional fruit cake and so a version using blanched almonds was created for her instead. Dundee Cake has a distinctive concentric pattern made with the almonds before it is baked, and the Queen was said to favour a slice as an afternoon treat.
Tablet
A classic sugary staple to enjoy with a cup of tea, tablet's origins began in the early 18th century with a traditional recipe of just sugar and cream. However, as the recipe was passed down through the ages, modern additions of condensed milk and butter in place of the cream have been added to help avoid the high sugar content burning. The sugary after dinner sweet, with a grainier and harder texture than fudge, has similarities with numerous treats across the world, such as Quebec's sucre à la crème and borstplaat which is eaten in The Netherlands.
Of course, there are even more weird and wonderful Scottish dishes that still appear on menus across the country today. Slice of Fly Cemetery anyone?
In Wales, bara brith is a traditional fruit loaf which literally translates as 'speckled bread'. It was said to be invented by a chef who added dried fruit and spices to bread dough in a Welsh take on a classic tea loaf.
While Aberffraw biscuits have much in common with Scottish shortbread, the shape has a far more romantic origin. Shaped like a seashell, it is said to originate from around the 13th century in Anglesey.
The tale behind the biscuits explains that a Welsh king's wife spotted a scallop shell whilst on a walk in the village and asked for a cake to be made in the same shape. The resulting biscuits, based on the three-two-one ratios of Scottish shortbread have been popular ever since.
In Northern Ireland, fridge cake Fifteens is a simple ratio treat of 15 crushed biscuits, 15 glace cherries and 15 marshmallows mixed with condensed milk and chilled in a long sausage shape. Once cold, it's coated with chocolate or dusted with coconut before being sliced into rounds.
Irish Porter Cake is a sticky sweet loaf made with stout or Guinness and filled with dried fruits and citrus peel. Created in the late 19th century, rich stout was added to a classic fruit cake to complement the dark and robust flavours resulting in a sticky loaf that only gets better with age.
The north of England has a rich history of cakes, biscuits and loafs often filled with dried fruits. But Northerners aren't scared of the sweet stuff and have a fondness for cakes covered in thick ribbons of icing.
Sugary treats like Kendal Mint Cake - a slab of sugar, peppermint flavouring and glucose which hardens and is often covered in chocolate - became a hit with hikers thanks to it's high calorie content. It was invented around 1913 after a batch of peppermint creams accidentally solidified into a 'mint cake' overnight.
Sticky traybake Parkin, full of treacle and ginger, is an unusual cake which is baked until hard but softens as it cools. Its warming spices make it a popular treat on Bonfire Night. Thought to have originated in Yorkshire, where oats were the staple grain for families rather than wheat, it is traditionally made with oatmeal, flour, lard, treacle and ginger.
Meanwhile, the South of England appears to favour various types of sticky bakes, from lardy cakes to Chelsea buns.
A square shaped yeasted bun filled with currants with a thick layer of icing, a London bun was once a popular teatime nibble thought to be similar to a Bath Bun, which is coated in sugar and sometimes stuffed with sugar lumps before baking. The Bath Bun is thought to have been created in the 18th century, with Jane Austen referring to it in a letter citing the treat as inducing a stomach ache.
Tottenham cake is also a popular sweet option, thought to have been concocted by a Quaker based in north London. A sponge cake covered in pink icing and coconut, the bright colour originally came from mulberries which grew at Tottenham Friends burial ground, a cemetery for those who follow the religion.