The Great British Bake Off Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chelsea bun

A Chelsea bun is made from a yeast-based dough, flavoured with mixed spices and peels, which is then covered in the currant filling and rolled up into a distinctive square shape. After baking, the bun is glazed with a watery sugar coating to give it its shiny and sticky appearance.

Chelsea buns are believed to have been invented in the 18th century at a well-known bakery called the 'Chelsea Bun House'. This shop was known to be patronised by royalty, with the families of both Kings George II and George III stopping off there to buy sweet treats. Sadly, the building was demolished in the mid-1800s and its exact location has now been lost. However, it is thought to have been located on what is now Pimlico Road, conveniently close to the Ranelagh Gardens - a fashionable destination in 18th century London that was painted by Canaletto and hosted a performance by Mozart.

There is no such thing as a Belgravia, Mayfair or Kensington bun (although a Kensington bun foot is a traditional style of turned furniture foot). The three areas are all fashionable and affluent parts of London located close to Chelsea.

Answer: Eccles cake

Eccles, a town just outside Manchester in north-west England is home to the famed Eccles cake. Its exact origins are slightly mysterious, but the first commercial production was started in the 1790s by a baker named James Birch. The rather unflattering nickname, 'squashed fly cake', probably comes from its appearance, since the cooked currants poking through the surface of the pastry can look very much like dead flies (if you squint hard and don't notice the missing head, wings and legs...).

There are other similar types of cakes originating from different areas of northern England. For example, the Chorley cake is a flatter version of an Eccles cake, while the Blackburn cake is stuffed with apple instead of currants - both Chorley and Blackburn are in the county of Lancashire, which neighbours the Greater Manchester region.

Egham, Epsom and Esher are all towns in Surrey in the south of England - none are particularly associated with baked products.

Answer: Bakewell

Bakewell in Derbyshire is particularly aptly named as it is not only famous for the Bakewell tart but also for the much older Bakewell pudding, a completely different dish (pastry topped with a sort of egg custard) for which various differing recipes exist. The name of the town has nothing to do with cookery and is actually something to do with baths or streams - although there are arguments about the precise derivation.

The iced and cherry topped version of the Bakewell tart is generally known as a Cherry Bakewell and is the variation that is probably most widely commercially produced in Britain. The origins of this pastry date certainly date back to at least the mid-19th century, although the name 'Bakewell tart' didn't come into common usage until the 20th century.

Perhaps surprisingly, the incorrect options are all names of villages in Derbyshire.

Answer: Dundee cake

Like most traditional British cakes, the exact recipe for a Dundee cake is highly disputed and many differ considerably. However, in general the cake will include currants, sultanas and almonds - with many also adding in mixed peel and glacé cherries - and will be decorated with whole or sliced almonds positioned in concentric rings around the top of the cake.

The addition of glacé cherries to a Dundee cake is particularly controversial as one legend surrounding the cake is that it was created for Mary, Queen of Scots when she asked for a cake made without cherries. Although the origins of the cake are lost in the mists of time, it is known that the cake was first produced and marketed commercially by Keiller's of Dundee in the 19th century - despite the fact that they were much better known for making marmalade.

Aberdeen, Perth and Stirling are also cities in Scotland.

Answer: Drop or dropped scones

Scotch pancakes are made from a batter of flour, eggs, sugar and milk or buttermilk plus some other somewhat boring (but necessary) ingredients such as salt and baking powder. The traditional cooking method requires the batter to be 'dropped' (hence the alternative name) onto a griddle for a couple of minutes. The finished product is traditionally quite small - about 10cm in diameter and 1 to 2 cm deep - although obviously it is up to the cook to choose how large an amount of batter to pour out for each pancake.

Scotch pancakes can also be embellished with other ingredients such as lemon juice for flavouring or the addition of dried fruit such as sultanas or raisins to the mixture. They are also often served with jam, cream or syrup.

Scones (as opposed to drop scones) tend to be thicker and are a key component of a cream tea, where they are served with butter, clotted cream and jam. There are no specific dishes known as 'tiny waffles' or 'full muffins' and ring doughnuts are an entirely different sort of cake.

Answer: Shropshire

Shrewsbury cake - or Shrewsbury biscuit - is named after the county town of Shropshire, which is located on the English-Welsh border. The dough for Shrewsbury cake involves sugar, butter, egg, flour and lemon zest, with dried fruit being an optional addition. (I suppose that shrews could also be considered an optional addition, but one which none but the most avid carnivore would ever contemplate.) If you do choose to refer to this cake as a biscuit then make sure you don't confuse it with the New Zealand version of a Shrewsbury biscuit - which is shortbread with a jam filling, much like the British 'Jammie Dodger'.

It is known that Shrewsbury cake must have existed by the 17th century at the latest as it gets a mention in 'The Way of the World' - a play written by William Congreve and first performed in 1700.

The county towns of Somerset, Devon and Dorset are Taunton, Exeter and Dorchester respectively.

Answer: Small and round, with dried fruit and dusted with sugar

A bakestone is the name given to the steel or cast-iron griddle designed for the purpose of baking Welsh cakes. The cakes themselves are small, roughly circular and about 1.5cm (half an inch) thick. The dough is made from flour, sugar, butter and eggs with currants mixed into it. After a few minutes cooking time they become browned, turn slightly crisp and are then ready to be dusted with sugar and set out on a plate!

Welsh cakes became popular in the 19th century and are called 'pice ar y maen' or 'pics' in the Welsh language - the full name directly translates as "cakes on the stone".

A Victoria sponge is traditionally light and fluffy and filled with jam and cream; macaroons are little circular cakes involving almonds and coconut; and hard fruit cakes with a rocky exterior are known as rock cakes.

Answer: William Oliver

Dr William Oliver was born in Cornwall in 1695, but practiced for many years in the city of Bath. He was a founder and physician of the Bath Mineral Water Hospital in the 1740s. The story is that Dr Oliver invented the Bath bun for his patients, but it proved too fattening so he went back to the drawing (or baking?) board and came up with the much less appetising Bath Oliver biscuit instead.

In addition to the fruit and sugar cube, a Bath bun is also often topped with a sugary glaze and a sprinkling of caraway seeds. By contrast a Bath Oliver biscuit is a hard, dry cracker.

William Harvey was a 17th century doctor, famous for describing the workings of the heart and circulatory system. Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine in the late 18th century and John Radcliffe was a royal physician to King William III and Queen Mary II.

Answer: Sugar, glucose, water and peppermint oil

Kendal mint cake was first produced in the town of Kendal in the English Lake District and is sometimes known simply as mint cake or as peppermint tablet. It is made by boiling up the four key ingredients, stirring profusely in order to achieve its white appearance, leaving it to set in moulds, and then chopping it up into 'cake' sized portions.

There are several variations of the cake available, including one where the cake is coated in chocolate and another made using brown sugar. A single Kendal mint cake provides a large amount of energy, so the cakes have been taken along as rations on several famous expeditions including Sir Ernest Shackleton's journey across Antarctica of 1914-1917 and Sir Edmund Hillary's expedition that finally conquered Mount Everest in 1953.

None of the incorrect options are meant to describe the main ingredients of particular British cakes or desserts, however clearly the one with flour, butter and sugar would create something most resembling a traditional sort of cake.

Answer: Tottenham

Tottenham cake is a sponge cake that is usually baked in large trays so it can be easily cut up into small portions. The pink topping was traditionally said to be created using mulberries from a tree in the burial ground of the Tottenham Quaker Friends meeting house. Henry Chalkley is supposed to have sold slices of his Tottenham cake for 1d each - a 'd' being one old penny, part of the currency system used in Britain prior to decimalisation in 1971.

The Tottenham cake might not be the best known of British cakes, but it does have at least one claim to fame following a special guest appearance on 'The Great British Bake Off' in 2013.

The incorrect options are all areas in the East End of London - an area synonymous with poverty in the 19th century. Although in the same city, these areas would have been worlds away from the exclusivity of Mayfair, Kensington or Belgravia.