15 British Baked Sweet Treats You'll Want To Try

Victoria sponge is one of the most classic and quintessential British desserts. It was created in the 19th century, at the request of Anne Russell, the Duchess of Bedford, as a means of warding off mid-afternoon hunger pangs in anticipation of the evening meal, which was then eaten between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. (via Grants Bakery). Though the sponge had already existed for several centuries, it was this combination of jam, cream, and sponge that made its formal debut in front of many of Anne's friends, including Queen Victoria. This royal association cemented the cake's place within upper-class and elite circles, a reputation that still has some stronghold even today.

Queen Victoria was well known for her sweet tooth, as well as her trendsetting staying power within popular culture. According to Town & Country, she popularized the custom to wear a white wedding gown, alongside the commissioning of opulent wedding cakes to commemorate the occasion, as she did when marrying Prince Albert. Her cake, though not sponge, was recorded to have weighed around 300 pounds (via National Geographic)! Thankfully, a Victoria sponge recipe is quite manageable and easy to perfect.

If we had to pick just one dessert to eat forevermore, this would be one of the top contenders. While sticky toffee pudding is undoubtedly a classic British food, Its origins, however, aren't as clear cut. Some believe sticky toffee pudding was originally introduced by the Sharrow Bay Hotel in Cumbria, England, in the early 1970s (via BBC Travel). Cumbria was once home to one of England's largest harbors, receiving smuggled shipments of dates and sugar — two of the dessert's most important ingredients— imported from plantations in the Caribbean as part of the spice trade. However, according to The Westmorland Gazette, both Lancashire and Canada have also made claims to having invented the now widely popular, hard-to-resist dessert.

Sticky toffee pudding is an ideal cold-weather dessert, one to have after a great Sunday roast at your favorite local pub. It's best served warm with the rich spongy cake slathered in caramel sauce and then topped with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. Enjoy in between sips of bitter coffee to balance out the sweetness — it's absolute perfection.

There are myriad dishes from frittatas to Yorkshire puddings, created as a means of reducing waste. Bread and butter pudding just happens to fall into the category, transforming a stale loaf of bread into a hearty and cozy treat.

According to Coultons Bread, the dish dates back to at least the 11th century, however the cooking methods differed during that time. Bread puddings were first steamed, then baked. This method had changed by the 18th century, when the cookbook "The Compleat Housewife" by Eliza Smith, was published. Smith's book, which contained not one but two recipes for bread and butter puddings also used ingredients like butter and eggs, which had become more widely available. 

There are a number of variations on a bread and butter pudding recipe but we happen to prefer ours with a creamy rich custard and sweet raisins. Next time you go shopping for bread, buy an extra loaf just to make sure there's enough to make this minimal-prep winter-warming dessert.

Rationed foods often come attached to negative associations due to the implied scarcity, whether from war or otherwise. There are, however, some wonderful foods still eaten today that have emerged as a result of rationing. Apple crumble, the equivalent of apple crisp in the U.S., is one such food. Crumble, which stems from rationing in the U.K. during WWII (via ifood.tv), was offered as an alternative to pie since it uses less butter and flour and takes less time to make, as there is no crust.

Apple crumble combines the best parts of two much-beloved dishes: the jammy apple and cinnamon filling from an apple pie with the buttery biscuit-like topping of a cobbler. This easy-to-assemble dish will have your house smelling like fall in no time. 

If you're looking for an easy dessert option for Thanksgiving, an apple crumble or apple crisp makes the perfect easy alternative to apple pie. It's also a simple way to reduce waste by adding in any fruits that are starting to look overripe or a little bit sad and neglected from the fridge or fruit bowl.

Visit any café in Wales and you'll likely come across Welsh cakes (aka Pice ar y maen), a subtlety sweet, slightly craggy and dense, butter or lard laden griddled pastry, dotted with currants and topped with a dusting of sugar. Welsh cakes are in a category of their own. They're similar in texture to a scone, slightly sweet with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, then cooked on a griddle like a pancake, rather than baked. This method of cooking is why they're also occasionally known as "griddle cakes" or even more infrequently "Welsh miner cakes."

According to the Welsh Baker, the latter nickname comes from being the perfect size, shape, and texture to slip into the pockets of miners for a midday pick-me-up and break from their hard labor. This was a common way of eating them as Wales was once known for being the largest producer of coal, thus cementing the ritual and feelings of endearment towards these hearty treats into the hearts of the Welsh.

They are often made for special occasions to celebrate and honor Welsh culture. They're notably served during St. David's Day, the spring holiday that celebrates the patron saint of Wales. Though the process of making them can be time-consuming, it's a lovely way to pay tribute to Welsh heritage and culture.

This is the kind of dessert that is basically job security for dentists. It's a favorite amongst anyone with a sweet tooth but particularly with children and one famous fictional British wizard. Treacle tart is made by using golden syrup, a sticky, sweet substance similar to honey which is then mixed with breadcrumbs, and spices, then set on a shortbread pastry crust. The result is a gooey and sweet tart, much like pecan pie but without nuts; it's one of the sweetest British treats there is.

Though the true specifics of it origin seem to be slightly unknown or at least well buried, it is likely the dish was invented shortly after the creation of golden syrup in the late 1800s, as it is a key ingredient in the dish (via British Food: A History). The syrup and the tart date back to a time when there was no year-round access to fruits from around the globe; there was simply no choice but to use other ingredients when fruit was no longer in season. As noted in the "Whitby Gazette" in 1898, "Now that fruit is getting scarce, baked treacle tart comes in useful ..." (via Foods of England). This is not a last resort dish; however, it is most certainly a dessert rather than a teatime treat or snacking cake, due to its sweetness.

Think of this dessert as a bedazzled, tricked-out version of your favorite buttery, biscuit. It's a layered cookie that satisfies several sweet cravings at once with its butter-heavy shortbread base, sweet caramel center, and hardened chocolate top. Thankfully, you don't have to have piles of money to purchase or bake millionaire's shortbread — its name is likely a reference to the cookie's richness in flavor. Much like trifle, this too makes a perfect holiday or dinner party dessert, made a bit in advance to ease the pressure.

Interestingly, according to Delighted Cooking, shortbreads of all shapes and kinds were originally created during the Elizabethan-era in Scotland. They were first made using oats rather than wheat flour, as it now uses today. Other modern ingredients, such as condensed milk and pre-sweetened chocolate have influence the original shortbread cookie, helping it to transform into indulgent treats like millionaire's shortbread.

Named after their trendy place of origin, these fruit and spice-filled buns were once considered the height of food fashion. Throughout many different eras, the Chelsea borough in London somehow seems to have its finger on the pulse of whatever is the epitome of cool from the Rolling Stones to cinnamon-laced backed goods (via Sloane Stanley).

Made from a rich dough laden with eggs and yeast and left to prove several times before being dotted with currants, brown sugar, warming spices, and as much butter as humanly possible, the buns, as they are called in the U.K. are then rolled, sliced, baked, and glazed. The result is a sweet, sticky, irresistible treat that you can now find in many bakeries across Britain.

According to The Londonist, the buns are so good that when they were first rolled out from The Chelsea Bun House (now in, Pimlico not Chelsea) in the early hours of the morning, the council had to provide extra police to help control the crowds of hungry patrons that would surround the small window from which they were sold. That said, we'd never be one to turn down a cinnamon roll, so who could blame them?