When I was a child my mum baked every week. All mums did back in the 1950s and 60s. She used to make sponge cakes, fruit cakes, chocolate cakes, scones, fruit tarts and pies etc. If we had visitors coming it was always in the afternoon for tea. I don’t remember my parents ever having people as dinner guests in the evening. When guests came the thing to do at that time was to serve ‘shop cake’. It was as though home made cake was too ‘everyday’ and that you were making an effort to produce something a bit more special. This was possibly because ‘shop cake’ was more expensive then than home baking. Nowadays everyone really appreciates home baking and if someone is coming here I like to make a cake.
Of course, these are just my memories from the 1950s. Other people who lived through those times but in other areas might have had completely different experiences!
Paper doilies were very popular and were usually only bought for teatime with guests or for birthday cakes.
Mugs were not usual back in the 1950s and tea bags hadn’t even been invented. Cups and saucers and a teapot were the norm.
But for visitors there would be the better set of china brought out or even the set kept for very best. Everyone had a tea set in the dresser or china cupboard which rarely saw the light of day and had usually been given as a wedding present.
The following is what I remember of the shop cakes available back then where I lived. I know these types of cake all still exist but this post is to give a flavour of a what 1950s teatime spread might look like.
Battenberg which I used to call ‘window cake’ when I was small.
Angel cake
Dundee cake
Victoria Sponge. The sponges of the 1950s, home made or bought, would never have had fresh cream in them. There would be jam, butter icing or both. This is because most people didn’t have fridges in the 1950s.
Jam tarts. A box of six usually contained two with red jam (strawberry or raspberry flavour), two with purple jam (blackcurrant of blackberry) and two with yellow jam (apricot jam or lemon curd). The jams were more of a flavoured, coloured gel with no discernible seeds or pips. But I loved them!
Not one of my favourites but a popular teatime treat.
Ginger cake – which always had a lovely sticky top.
There would often be a plate of biscuits on offer too. We have a vast selection available now but these are two old faithfuls which I remember fondly from my childhood.
Credit to Google Images and Wikipedia. As always, I have endeavored not to infringe copyright. However, if anyone objects to my use of an image, please contact me and I will remove it.
Childhood Memories of growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. 
My mother used to bake every week when I was growing up, but no sweets, just whole grain bread.
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A lot healthier!!
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Definitely!
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The Bero recipe book was my mam’s staple. My favourite was Granary Loaf, which I called Granny Loaf. Mam also often made teacakes, plain and fruit scones, rock buns, butterfly cakes, plain (fatless) sponges, currant slices (which dad called fly pie), curd tarts & melting moments. Occasionally she made a seed cake for dad, who was the only one in the family who liked it. I recall her making ginger cake only once. I found the smell while it was baking disgusting and had to go outside. And yet I used to long for pink wafers and other bought delights, which were only occasional treats.
I am still absolutely horrified when folk put jam on fruit scones!
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What a lovely collection of memories! I’d forgotten about butterfly cakes and rock buns.
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As far as I recall rock buns were scones with the addition of egg. I loved scones but didn’t like rock buns. I cringe these days when seeing recipes with egg in scones and even in pastry.
My mam recalls that her aunt Meggie made wonderful pastry despite always having really filthy hands. Thankfully she died long before I was born.
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What I remember about rock buns from early attempts at baking with my mum was that you didn’t have to whisk or cream anything or do any rolling out and cutting. Your aunt reminds me of a woman in our village who could ice beautiful cakes – smoking like a chimney at the same time.
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My favourite part of my mother’s baking was eating the cake mix from out of the bowl.
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That’s still my favourite part, though it’s now me who makes them.
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So many people share memories of eating raw cake mix!
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Does anyone remember Kunzle cakes and junket?
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I’d forgotten about junket! I remember hearing about Kunzle cakes but I never came across them. Perhaps they didn’t reach my part of rural Wales! Thanks for commenting.
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I remember the cakes but junket was something I’d only read about in books. My mother (b. 1917) remembered it though.
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I wonder if we’d like eating them now? Thanks for commenting.
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A short time ago, I posted about “milk loaf” and received a great recipe from Caroline. For some reason, I seem to have lost that string and would like to recover it. I encountered a delay in my sister-in-law’s availability for its preparation and now that things are a bit clearer, and I would like to proceed, I can’t locate it..
If someone still has the information and could post, I would be most appreciative.
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Hi John. You and Carolyn are both regular commenters on my blog and I remember you having a conversation on here about milk loaf. I’ve trawled through the comments on my blog and here is what she said about milk loaf.
Hi John
I just found the recipe online, just google Old fashioned milk loaf and presto! It’s made in a special tin
Enjoy and I hope it’s what you are looking for, if it is and you can’t copy it I will for you and send it
Carolyn
I hope this helps!
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Thanks, Meryl. I have it now!
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Oh good! 😊
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