Strawberries and Cream Cake, and What Seasonal Actually Means Here

There is a simple test for whether a bakery means the word seasonal. Look at whether anything ever disappears.

A menu where the strawberry cake is available in February is not a seasonal menu. It is a menu with the word seasonal written on it. Ours goes off the site when the fruit stops being worth eating, which some years is late and some years is early, and that decision is made by tasting rather than by the calendar.

What a February strawberry is

Most strawberries sold in Britain between November and April have been grown for durability rather than flavour. They are picked underripe so they survive transport, they are bred for uniform shape and firm flesh, and they have travelled a long way in a chilled lorry.

They look magnificent. They are large, evenly red, and photograph beautifully, which is precisely why they are still sold. Cut one open and the centre is white and hollow, and the flavour is faintly sweet water with a green edge.

On a plate with cream, that is disappointing. On a cake that is mostly fruit and cream, where there is nothing else to hide behind, it is the whole experience.

What the cake actually is

Light sponge, whipped cream, fresh strawberries. That is the entire list.

There is no buttercream to carry flavour, no soak to add sweetness, no glaze, no ganache. The sponge is there for structure, the cream is there to be cold and soft, and the fruit is what you are eating. A baker has nowhere to hide on this cake and neither does the greengrocer.

That is why it is a summer cake and why we will not sell it in the winter. We would rather lose the order than send out a cake that costs what this costs, built on fruit that tastes of nothing.

How the site handles it

Seasonality lives in the product data rather than in a note somewhere. Each product can carry a window, and when today falls outside it the product is simply not on the site. It does not appear greyed out, it does not appear with a message, it is not there.

The same applies to the strawberry tart and to anything else built on fruit that has a real season. And the reverse is true too: the moment the window opens, it appears, without anybody having to remember.

Strawberries & Cream CakeStrawberries and cream cake, 18 cm. Light sponge, fresh strawberries and whipped cream.£68Order this

What to order when it is off

Three honest alternatives, depending on what you actually wanted.

If you wanted light and fruity, the meringue roll. Chocolate meringue rolled around cream and berries, and the berries in it are used in a way that tolerates a wider part of the year than a cake covered in whole strawberries does.

If you wanted light and not heavy, the Bird’s Milk. It is the airiest thing we make and it is available all year.

If you wanted the summer birthday cake feeling, the honey cake with berries on it is a variant we offer, and the fruit there is a finish rather than the substance of the cake, which makes it a far more forgiving choice out of season.

Signature Carrot CakeSignature carrot cake, 18 cm and about 1.7 kg. Spiced sponge with walnuts and cream cheese frosting.£74Order this

Cream cakes and time

If you do order this one in season, it is worth knowing that it is the most time sensitive cake on our list.

Whipped cream against fresh sponge and cut fruit begins to change within hours. The cream absorbs moisture from the fruit, the sponge absorbs moisture from the cream, and by the second day it is a softer, wetter cake than the one that left us.

So order it for the day you are eating it, not for the day before, and keep it in the fridge until as close to serving as you can manage. Twenty minutes out is plenty. This is not a cake that benefits from coming up to room temperature.

The other things that move with the year

Worth knowing if you plan ahead.

The strawberry vatrushki and the strawberry and basil tart follow the same fruit and the same logic.

Easter brings kulichi and paskha, which are on the site for a few weeks and then gone entirely.

Bread is a different kind of seasonal: it is baked on Wednesdays only, all year, which means a loaf needs a Wednesday delivery date and 72 hours rather than 48.

What to ask a bakery about their fruit

If you are buying a fruit cake anywhere in Britain outside the summer, two questions tell you most of what you need.

The first is whether the fruit is fresh or frozen. Frozen berries are perfectly good in a filling, a coulis or anything cooked, because the cell damage from freezing does not matter once the fruit has broken down anyway. On top of a cake, whole and raw, frozen fruit thaws into something limp that weeps into the cream. A bakery that is honest about using frozen fruit is telling you the cake is a cooked fruit cake rather than a fresh one.

The second is where it comes from at this time of year. There is no wrong answer to this and the point is whether the person selling it knows. A baker who has thought about the fruit will tell you which country and often why. One who has not will say the supplier sends what they send.

We would rather take the cake off the site than answer either question badly, which is the whole reason this article exists.

Common questions

Why is the strawberry cake not on the site?

Because the strawberries are not worth eating at the moment. It comes back when they are. Nothing is hidden or sold out in the usual sense.

When does it come back?

Usually late spring, and it stays through the summer. The exact date moves with the fruit rather than the calendar, so there is no fixed answer.

Can I order it out of season anyway?

No, and we would rather you were annoyed with us for two minutes than disappointed by a cake for an occasion.

How long does it keep?

One day, honestly. Two at a push. It is the shortest lived cake we make because cream, sponge and cut fruit all work on each other.

What are the allergens?

Gluten, eggs and milk. No nuts.

Is there a version with other fruit?

The meringue roll uses berries more generally and has a longer window. For anything specific, message us before ordering.

Ordering in London

When it is on, it is baked to order in Belgravia and delivered across London and Surrey, with 48 hours notice, £12 delivery in central London and £15 elsewhere, and a £50 minimum order.