queen cake

See also: queencake and queen-cake

English

Queen cakes

Alternative forms

• queencake, queen-cake, queen's cake

Noun

queen cake (plural queen cakes)

1. (cooking, dated) A soft, muffin-sized cake, popular particularly in the 1700s, containing currants, mace and sometimes flavoured with orange or lemon marmalade or shredded coconut and chocolate toppings.
   • 1725, Robert Smith, Court Cookery, Queen's cakes, p188 - "Take a Pound of dry'd Flower, a Pound of refined Sugar sifted, and a Pound of Currans washed, picked, and rubbed clean, and a Pound of Butter washed very well, and rub it into the Flower and Sugar, with a little beaten Mace, and a little Orange-Flower Water; beat ten Eggs, but half the Whites, work it all well together with your Hands, and put in the Currants; sift over it double-refined Sugar, and put them immediately into a gentle Oven to bake."
   • 1796, Maria Edgeworth, “Waste Not, Want Not”, in The Parent's Assistant:

     "This bun tastes so bad after the queen cakes, I can't bear it!"

   • 1837, Frances Harriet Green, The Housekeeper's Book, page 131:

     QUEEN CAKE. Beat one pound of butter to cream, with some rose-water, one pound of flour dried, one pound of sifted sugar, twelve eggs, beat all well together; add a few currants washed and dried; butter small pans of a size for the purpose, grate sugar over them; they are soon baked.

   • c. 1885, Louisa May Alcott, The Candy Country:

     "We cook for all the confectioners." . . . Lily was so surprised she sat down on a warm queen’s cake that happened to be near.

   • 1914, Angela Brazil, The Girls of St. Cyprian's, (Google online books):

     "I'm sure my brains work better when they're lubricated with tea," declared Bess Harrison, tilting back her chair at a comfortable though rather dangerous angle, and accepting the queen-cake which Lottie Lowman offered her.

   • 2011, Ann Treistman, Who Put the Devil in Deviled Eggs?, →ISBN, page 27:

     CUPCAKE. It's thought these diminutive cakes were inspired from the British Queen cake. This early cake was similar to the pound cake and was served individually.

Further reading

• “queen cake”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “queencake”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.