Tunis cake

{{Short description|British Christmas dessert}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Tunis cake

| image = Tunis Cake KG Christmas 2021.jpg

| caption = Tunis Cake (Mary Berry recipe)

| alternate_name =

| country = Scotland

| region = Glasgow{{cite web |author= |date= 2004|title=McFarlane, Lang & Co. |url=https://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA05084 |website=The Glasgow Story |location=Glasgow, Scotland |publisher= |access-date=2 April 2025}}

| creator =

| course =

| type = Madeira cake

| served =

| main_ingredient = Chocolate icing, marzipan

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

File:Tunis Cake Cross-Section KG Christmas 2021.jpg

A Tunis cake is a Madeira cake topped with a thick layer of chocolate and decorated with marzipan fruits. It is traditionally eaten at Christmas.{{cite web |title=Christmas 2011 order form |year=2011 |url=http://www.sugarmagic.co.uk/docs/Christmas-2011-order-form.pdf |access-date=2011-12-16}}

It is thought that the origins of the cake are Edwardian.{{Cite web|last=Creative|first=Venn|title=Traditional Tunis Cake|url=https://warrensbakery.co.uk/product/traditional-tunis-cake/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Warrens Bakery|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228160227/https://warrensbakery.co.uk/product/traditional-tunis-cake/|url-status=dead}} The Scottish bakery Macfarlane Langs produced commercial Tunis Cakes in the 1930s, and when they merged with McVitie & Price in 1948 to form a company called United Biscuits (which still owns the McVitie's brand), the recipe passed to the new company. McVitie's produced a Tunis cake until the mid 1980s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.epicureansanswer.com/tunis-cake-2/tunis-cake-pt-ii/|title=Tunis Cake pt II | Epicurean's Answer}} The updated recipe used by McVitie's is said to have been created by Elizabeth Ewing of Inverness, whose husband was a baker at McVitie's. Her husband had eaten a similar cake whilst stationed in Tunisia during World War II.{{Cite web|last=JPC-DESIGN|first=whychristmas?com /|title=Recipe: Tunis Cake (United Kingdom) - WhyChristmas.com|url=https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/recipe_tunis_cake.shtml|access-date=2021-12-28|website=www.whychristmas.com|language=en}}

It is now sold seasonally by some supermarkets in the UK. The cake is usually topped with marzipan fruits.{{Cite web|title=Foods of England - Tunis Cake|url=https://www.foodsofengland.info/Tunis_Cake.html|access-date=2025-04-21|website=www.foodsofengland.info}}{{Cite web|date=2021-12-21|title=Tunis Cake A Great British Christmas Tradition|url=https://christmascountdown.co.uk/tunis-cake-a-great-british-christmas-tradition/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=How to plan a perfect Christmas|language=en-US}} Some recipes, such as the BBC Good Food and Mary Berry recipe, top the cake with marzipan holly leaves and berries instead of marzipan fruits.{{Cite web|title=Mary Berry's Tunis Cake|url=https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/recipes/all/mary-berry-tunis-cake/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=The Great British Bake Off|language=en-GB}} An early recipe does not include the chocolate and marzipan topping.{{cite book |title=Saleable shop goods for counter-tray and window |publisher=Office of the Baker and Confectioner |page=[https://archive.org/details/saleableshopgoo00vinegoog/page/n83 77] |author=Frederick T. Vine |year=1907 |url=https://archive.org/details/saleableshopgoo00vinegoog |quote=tunis. |access-date=2011-12-16}}

The port city of Tunis was known for exporting North African fruits. In March 1934 the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser printed a recipe including the North African fruits dates, figs, walnuts and prunes. In 1936 Garratt's Bakers of Lichfield included honey, dates and walnuts in their recipe, plus topping the cake with chocolate icing.