{"id":237350,"date":"2026-01-10T06:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/237350\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:04:19","slug":"two-classic-cake-recipes-guaranteed-to-bring-january-joy-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/237350\/","title":{"rendered":"Two classic cake recipes guaranteed to bring January joy \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something really comforting about classic cakes. In a world where food trends change every five minutes with new gadgets, new diets and the next \u201cmust-try\u201d bake, it\u2019s the old favourites that keep us grounded. As a chef I go back to these recipes all the time, not because they\u2019re basic, but because they remind me why baking is such a joy to begin with. This week\u2019s recipes have stood the test of time for a reason and have been knocking about longer than anybody who is reading this column. <\/p>\n

\"Battenberg:Battenberg: a familiar showpiece. Photograph: Harry Weir <\/p>\n

Take the Battenberg cake. It popped up in the late 1800s, supposedly made to celebrate the marriage of Princess Victoria and Prince Louis of Battenberg. It\u2019s a bit of a showpiece with those neat pink and yellow squares wrapped in marzipan. Half craft project, half dessert. For home bakers in 2026, it\u2019s still a brilliant lesson in structure and balance. And despite its prim appearance, it\u2019s surprisingly flexible. Change the colours, pick a different jam, flavour the marzipan; there\u2019s plenty of room to make it your own while still keeping that classic look.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the Victoria sponge: maybe the most approachable cake of all. Named after England\u2019s Queen Victoria, who liked a slice with her afternoon tea, it has become a staple everywhere, from family kitchens to village f\u00eates. It looks simple \u2013 essentially just sponge, jam, and cream \u2013 but that\u2019s the point. A good Victoria sponge relies on proper technique and good ingredients. It\u2019s the kind of cake that proves you don\u2019t need anything fancy to make something genuinely delicious. <\/p>\n

These cakes stick around because they\u2019re tied to memory. They remind us of childhood baking, family celebrations and the kind of relaxed cooking that brings people together. And even today, they still fit right in. They\u2019re adaptable, reliable and timeless \u2013 proof that, sometimes, the classics really are the best place to start.<\/p>\n

Recipe: Battenberg cake<\/a>Recipe: Victoria sponge cake<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s something really comforting about classic cakes. In a world where food trends change every five minutes with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,69986],"class_list":{"0":"post-237350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mark-moriarty"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}