Let them eat cake

Growing up in England as a young child provided many opportunities for sweets, cakes and wobbly jellies, and one of my favorite pastimes was the call to afternoon tea.

In our household, this usually occurred on Sunday afternoons. We still had on our Sunday frocks, and Grandma would “lay the table.” It was a small oak table with leaves that she would pull out, drape with crisp Irish linen, embellish with flowers from the garden ( I loved the forget-me-nots ), the silver teapot ( doesn’t tea always taste better brewed in silver? ) and the Chelsea pattern fine china teacups. In this way, we were “trained”.

The centerpiece would be the tiered cake stand on which would rest the magnificent Victoria Sponge.

To the untrained eye, it looks rather ordinary…..until you sink your delicate lips into it, then try not having a second, or third as I did last Sunday. (I still on occasion beg my lovely Mother to make me a Victoria Sponge. Then for penance, I run to her house and reward myself!)

 

A LITTLE HISTORY ON THIS CAKE

…..well, the name gives it away!

The Victoria in question is of course Queen Victoria of Great Britain, who reigned from 1838 to 1901. Anna, the Duchess of Bedford is credited with making afternoon tea a regular occurrence…they all had sweet tooth issues! She was one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting, and would find that, in the late afternoon, would have that sinking feeling (feel hungry! ) Being the beauty and socialite that she was, everyone followed suit and afternoon tea become a ritual, crowned as it were by a Victoria Sponge.

Note to Reader : Do not confuse “Afternoon Tea” with “High Tea”….I will blog on that subject another time!

While inhaling this edible treat last Sunday, La Soeur Anglaise began to muse on that wonderful phrase “Let them eat cake” and voila! all sorts of visions and thoughts came tumbling from her naughty mind… « qu’ils mangent de la brioche »……

The myth is that, upon being informed that the citizens of France had no bread to eat, Marie Antoinette exclaimed “qu’ils mangent de la brioche” or “let them eat cake.” After reading historical references, I nobly come to her rescue to say that, truth is, she almost certainly didn’t utter these words ( when the quote was written – attributed to ‘a great princess’ – Antoinette was a child of 9 yrs romping through the woods of Austria ) and that her many detractors claimed she had said it in order to make her look insensitive to the peasants’ plight and undermine her role as Queen. As usual, we women become the scapegoats of men’s politics. Someone put words in her mouth instead of cake!

Although I do love brioche……
I am going to keep my cake and eat my Victoria Sponge !
Bon Appetit!