Alternative names Shrewsbury biscuit Place of origin England | Course Dessert | |
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Main ingredients Sugar, flour, egg, butter, and lemon zest Region or state Shrewsbury, United Kingdom Similar Flummery, Jumble, Banbury cake, Nankhatai, Syllabub | ||
Knight family cookbook shrewsbury cakes recipe
A Shrewsbury cake or Shrewsbury biscuit is a classic English dessert, named after Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire. They are made from dough that contains sugar, flour, egg, butter and lemon zest; dried fruit is also often added. Shrewsbury cakes can be small in size for serving several at a time, or large for serving as a dessert in themselves.
The playwright William Congreve mentioned Shrewsbury cakes in his play The Way of the World in 1700 as a simile (Witwoud - "Why, brother Wilfull of Salop, you may be as short as a Shrewsbury cake, if you please. But I tell you 'tis not modish to know relations in town"). The recipe is also included in several early cookbooks including The Compleat Cook of 1658.
Also, today in India, Shrewsbury biscuits are one of the most popular biscuits in the country. They are locally produced in the city of Pune, Maharashtra.
A popular biscuit in New Zealand is also called a Shrewsbury biscuit, this is similar to a Jammie Dodger in the UK. The traditional British recipe, however, predates James Cook's trip to the islands forming New Zealand in 1769 by at least a hundred years.
