1800's foods History Norwich England 1864 Specialty Cakes admin 3 years agoJanuary 13, 2022

Queen Elizabeth Cake from 1860’s through the 1970’s

QUEEN ELIZABETH’S CAKE

I am guessing that this recipe is from Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second; the currant Queen of England, and not the Elizabeth I from the 1500’s. The cookbooks I have gotten them from are dated from the 1940’s to the 1980’s.

It is not known if this cake was in honor of Elizabeth II stepping up to the Throne in 1953 or in honor of King George VI’s coronation in 1937, his wife’s name also being Elizabeth. It was first published by the Coronation Cook Book, 1953 as a celebration for Elizabeth II’s coronation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_cake

Several of the recipes say this is the only cake Her Majesty will make personally, although this has never been proven; she would like any sales from this recipe to go to a charity. I believe this particular commentary was a way to raise funds for churches and other charitable needs; by selling slices of the cake a fetes and bake sales.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin from 1940’s through the 1960’s.

A recipe box from Glenville New York 1960’s to the 1970’s

Now this is a puzzle cake, a Queen Elizabeth Cake from a book dated 1864 through 1877. This is way out of date for the current queen of England who was born in 1926, so my conclusion it is possibly named after Elizabeth the first. This is not for certain, there have been quite a few Elizabeth’s that were Queens of several countries; perhaps it is from the century the cookbook is from, or the person who wrote the book liked a particular queen. There is a Queen of Hungary from 1867 through 1898 as one possibility, there is also a Queen of Russia; Elizabeth 1741 to 1762 daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine. There were also several other Elizbeth’s of England such as Elizabeth of York, wife Henry the VII and Elizbeth Woodville the wife of Edward the IV from 1464 to 1483.

The original owner of the cookbook’s name is Maria Cazen from Newberry Vermont, November 1^st 1864 and this is the fourth recipe in the book. Her surname seems to be German or from the Nederland’s so the queen of Hungary could be a good guess.

We will never know who it is named after from that time period, but it is fun to speculate.

Newberry Vermont 1864 through 1877