Queen's Cake (Williamsburg, Virginia)

american-virginia-williamsburgqueencake The Raleigh Tavern's Bake Shop in Colonial Williamsburg is a favourite destination for Virginia tourists. Queen's Cake, a dense buttery pound cake studded with currants and bursting with bright citrus flavour, is one of the bakery's most popular items. Now you can enjoy this easy dessert in your own kitchen with just a handful of simple ingredients - no vacation necessary. Not to be confused with a Queen Victoria Sponge Cake (which is a layer cake with jam in the middle) or a Russian King's Cake (a chocolate layer cake), the Queen's Cake from Colonial Williamsburg is a recipe from 18th century England that has been updated for modern baking. The Colonial Queen Cakes were enjoyed in Virginia homes during the Colonial times, and one of the first known published recipes dates back to The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy from 1760. This colonial Queen's Cake is a citrus pound cake that's baked in a loaf pan and studded with an abundance of dried currants. It's dense, buttery, sweet and oh-so-decadent. One small slice is all you need to instantly transport you to a different era.

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 orange, freshly zested
1 lemon, freshly zested
2 cups + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached, divided
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. sea salt
2 cups dried currants

Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C/140°C fan, Gas Mark 3). Grease and flour a 9x5" loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon zest and orange zest. Mix well.

Sift together 2 cups of flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.

Toss the currants with the remaining 1 Tbsp. of flour. Fold the currants into the batter.

Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes - 1 hour, 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent with foil during the final 30 minutes if the top of the cake starts to get too brown while it's baking.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Slice thinly and serve.

Makes 1 loaf, or about 12-14 thin slices.

Cook's Notes:

The dried currants are nice in this pound cake because they're small, making it easy to cut thin slices. If you don't have currants, though, you can substitute with raisins. Dried cranberries would be delicious during the holidays.
When zesting the orange and lemon, be sure that you're only scraping off the outer layer of the peel (this is where the essential oils and delicious flavour can be found). Be careful not to grate any of the white pith from the fruit, because that is bitter and definitely not what you want in your cake.
Make sure that ingredients are all at room temperature before preparing the batter.
You can prepare the cake in mini loaf pans to share with friends. The little fruited pound cakes would be a perfect Christmas gift for neighbors. Smaller cakes will bake much faster, so start checking them at about the 45-minute mark.