Victoria sponge cake has been voted the nation’s most nostalgic bake, according to the latest research from Dr Oetker.
The baking ingredients firm surveyed 2,000 British consumers to see what cakes and bakes made them feel the most nostalgic. The classic sponge came out on top with 26% of the vote, followed by apple crumble and iced fairy cakes, with 22% each.
Bread & butter pudding and lemon meringue pie also made an appearance in the top 10 alongside chocolate crispy cakes and rock cakes.
The full top 10 is as follows:
The survey also found that 51% of Brits turn to baking to cheer themselves up, with another 31% claiming that baking brings back happy memories for them of their childhood.
“What the survey shows above all else is the power that baking can have,” said Dr. Oetker baking expert Beth Stevenson. “It’s very telling that a quarter of those surveyed are keen to pass their own happy childhood memories of baking down to their kids, and even making something as relatively simple as a Victoria sponge cake creates lasting memories.
“Baking itself has been known to have calming properties and turning to bakes of our childhood is a sure-fire way to make us feel warm and put us back into a happy place,” she added.
Nostalgia has been a trend in the wider baking industry for the past few years as consumers turn to familiar favourites, sometimes with a new spin, to cheer them up.
This has since morphed into tradition with a twist which was named one of the top bakery trends for 2023 which sees bakers combine old and new ingredients, formats and techniques or putting a new twist on time-honoured classics. This helps fulfil consumers’ desire for new food experiences without taking them too far out of their comfort zone – think embracing passionfruit curd instead of jam for a zingy spin on a classic Victoria sponge cake or using miso caramel instead of salted caramel.
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