Tunis cake

A Tunis cake is a Madeira cake topped with a thick layer of chocolate and decorated with marzipan fruits. It is traditionally eaten at Christmas.[1]

Tunis cake
Tunis Cake (Mary Berry recipe)
TypeMadeira cake
Main ingredientsChocolate icing, marzipan
Cross-section of a Tunis Cake (Mary Berry recipe)

It is thought that the origins of the cake are Edwardian.[2] The Scottish bakery Macfarlane Langs produced commercial Tunis Cakes in the 1930s, and when they merged with McVitie & Price in 1948 to form a company called United Biscuits (which still owns the McVitie's brand), the recipe passed to the new company.[3] McVitie's produced a Tunis cake until the mid 1980s.[3][2] The updated recipe used by McVitie's is said to have been created by Elizabeth Ewing of Inverness, whose husband was a baker at McVitie's. Her husband had eaten a similar cake whilst stationed in Tunisia during World War II.[4]

It is now sold seasonally by some supermarkets in the UK. The cake is usually topped with marzipan fruits.[5][6] Some recipes, such as the BBC Good Food and Mary Berry recipe, top the cake with marzipan holly leaves and berries instead of marzipan fruits.[7][5] An early recipe does not include the chocolate and marzipan topping.[8]

The port city of Tunis was known for exporting North African fruits.[5] In March 1934 the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser printed a recipe including the North African fruits dates, figs, walnuts and prunes.[5] In 1936 Garratt's Bakers of Lichfield included honey, dates and walnuts in their recipe, plus topping the cake with chocolate icing.[5]

References
  1. "Christmas 2011 order form" (PDF). 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  2. Creative, Venn. "Traditional Tunis Cake". Warrens Bakery. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  3. "Tunis Cake pt II | Epicurean's Answer".
  4. JPC-DESIGN, whychristmas?com /. "Recipe: Tunis Cake (United Kingdom) - WhyChristmas.com". www.whychristmas.com. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  5. "Foods of England - Tunis Cake". www.foodsofengland.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  6. "Tunis Cake A Great British Christmas Tradition". How to plan a perfect Christmas. 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  7. "Mary Berry's Tunis Cake". The Great British Bake Off. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  8. Frederick T. Vine (1907). Saleable shop goods for counter-tray and window. Office of the Baker and Confectioner. p. 77. Retrieved 2011-12-16. tunis.
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