The Great Matson Bake Off.

And the 4th place winner is "The Heritage Springboard Group" with a pre 1916 recipe, Guard's Cake, from Michael Hicks Beach (gent, politician, officer killed on the 23 April 1916 in the battle of Katia, thirty miles from the Suez Canal). (GA reference D2455/F3/10/9/3). 

Rachel Wales from Gloucestershire Archives suggested the recipe to the Springboard Group who meet weekly at the Heritage Hub.

And, for those intrepid readers who would like to make the cake the recipe is as follows:

Guard’s Cake

1 lb flour

½ lb butter

½ lb brown sugar

½ lb currants

½ lb raisins

Little mixed peel

4 eggs

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp of Carbonate of Soda or 2 of baking powder

Soften with a little milk

Butter & sugar should be well beaten together then add each egg separately & sift in the flour & other ingredients.

Bake in a slow oven.

Rachel's Guard's cake

To read Rachel's Blog (February 2017) and her tips for making the cake visit

Gloucestershire Archives Blog