It’s somewhat rare that anything changes at Yorkshire County Fish Shop in Epcot’s UK Pavilion.
And I don’t mean that as a bad thing. When you’ve got a great classic like Fish & Chips as the main event, I’m of the opinion that Yorkshire County Fish Shop falls squarely under the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” category.
So when I strolled past a few weeks ago on the way to meet some friends at Rose & Crown Pub and Dining Room and noticed that the dessert option had changed to Victoria Sponge Cake filled with jam and buttercream (you can now also find whole fruit options as well), I knew I wanted to get back as soon as possible and give it a try.
Yorkshire County Fish Shop
Yorkshire County Fish Shop menu
Prior to the Victoria Sponge Cake, the dessert option on this limited menu was an English Bay Sugar Cookie, and before that, the common dessert option was a package of shortbread cookies for… well, for as long as I can remember. So the Victoria Sponge Cake is a definite departure from the cookies.
Unfortunately, I can’t claim to be familiar with a traditional English Victoria Sponge Cake. But I can tell you that the version you’ll receive at Epcot comes, understandably, in a “To Go” package, custom made for the search for seats at this popular stop.
Victoria Sponge Cake in package
Victoria Sponge Cake in package
Before I dug in, I wanted to give you a chance to see inside. Between
two rounds of yellow sponge cake is a bit of the buttercream and a touch of berry jam (raspberry, I believe) with no big chunks of berry, just small bits of seed.
Inside Victoria Sponge Cake
When you try it in a more typical fashion, it will look more like this:
Victoria Sponge Cake
Cross section of Victoria Sponge Cake
The sponge cake was exceptionally moist. If you’ll forgive my unsophisticated palate (I know what I’m about to say isn’t exactly an example of haute cuisine 😉 ), upon trying it, I just thought, “Hey! It’s like Twinkie!” Which makes some sense, given that Twinkie is also sponge cake.
More specific to the Victoria Cake, though , I enjoyed how the cake itself wasn’t overly sweet, and I thought the small amount of jam provided just the right fruity aftertaste. But I would have loved to have seen a much thicker layer of the yummy, sweet buttercream — like, a ton of it.
Due to the small portion size (and lack of buttercream), I’d pass on purchasing this out of pocket in lieu of other great dessert options all around World Showcase (for instance, Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie is right over the bridge stepping into France, and you can grab something much more substantial for your $4.19). But as a dessert option for your meal when you’re on the Disney Dining Plan, it’s fun to see them change it up here — as long as nothing ever changes with my Fish & Chips, that is! And as much as the shortbread was an authentically British treat, the offering of a new British dessert is a nice touch.
Will you be trying the Victoria Sponge Cake? Please let us know with a comment!
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mmm this looks yummy but nothing like our “traditional” Victoria Sponge in England, this is what you’d call a mini version! Either way, they are usually really really moist, with jam (strawberry or raspberry) spread on one half and a good layer of butter cream on the other – sometimes called a Victoria sandwich!
THAT is $4.19??? Ummm…..no.
That is one sad looking Victoria sponge. It’s usually thick with. Ream and fruit, dusted with sugar. Absolutely sinful. I’ll be making my own.
It seems like too much money for a little bit of cake with hardly any jam or icing. If I had a DDP, I certainly wouldn’t mind. I’m anxious to try the Fish and Chips at this location on my next trip and I’ll probably check this out if I have the plan.
Those generic plastic packages that Disney uses for so many of their deserts does a disservice to the food. It conceals too much of it and makes it look like convenience store food. Maybe not this, as it looks objectively bad, but they have to do something about that package.
Sounds yummy! Lack of buttercream though. 🙁 I love that stuff
Essie, I had the fish and chips when I was there in June, and it was AMAZING. I was really hungry, so maybe that factored into it, but everything came out so hot you had to wait to eat it, and the chips were salted perfectly. And I did not regret standing in line or buying them out of pocket. It was one of the few things I REALLY enjoyed at Epcot besides getting food from Les Chefs de France, which was also really, really good. Make sure you definitely don’t miss the fish and chips!! I was so mad that I forgot to buy all the English candy, too, so don’t skip that if it’s on your to-do list!
Being honest, I’d rather just get a recipe online (or from an English friend) and make my own Victorian Sponge Cakes at home. It’d probably cost about the same for a lot more product. That portion seems pretty lackluster for its price, sadly.
Sadly that looks like a very sorry state of a Victoria Sponge to me. It needs twice as much jam, a good covering of freshly whipped cream and a sprinkle of sugar on top. We’ll have to get you over to the UK AJ so you can taste one for real.
Oh dear, if you entered that into a Women’s Institute baking competition in the UK as a Victoria sponge you’d be laughed out of the village hall.
A proper Victoria sponge should be a thing of beauty, thick, moist sponge cake with a filling of homemade strawberry or raspberry jam and fresh whipped cream or a good half inch of butter cream, and dusted with confectioners sugar on the top.
I do wish British food was better represented at Epcot. There’s nothing wrong with the Rose and Crown, but the food there is very old fashioned and not at all where British food is at the moment.
It’s a step in the right direction but that has to be about the most pathetic example of a Victoria sponge sandwich I’ve ever seen. A sponge drop maybe (and a sad one at that) but not a sandwich.
I’m happy that they’ve replaced the sugar cookie but there’s still a long way to go here, it grieves me that what should be a marvellous slice of teatime is reduced to such a shabby effort, especially when there are so many cakey delights in France next door and Sunshine Seasons in FW. The UK is famous for its baking of cakes and puddings, come on Disney, you get points for trying but you need to try a lot harder than this.
That definitely doesn’t look like a decent Victoria Sponge!! I would love to see the UK pavilion get an tea and cake shop that could represent traditional treats from around the UK. Disney are missing a trick, it would be such a money maker!
Sorry looks more like a Victoria flat pancake!! Should be two thick ends crammed full of jam and butter icing and price for this tiny morsel is quite horrendous. I will enjoy fish and chips again on return in December but will pop into another country for dessert!!
Wow, what a sorry state of affairs that cake is, I actually did a double take when I saw that tiny amount of filling, it doesn’t even go out to the edge of the cake!
I was quite intrigued at what it would be when I saw it mentioned in passing on a previous post because I hated the previous pre-packaged cookies but now I’ve seen what it is..boo!
You would never, ever be served that….thing… in a cake shop in the UK. Period. It needs quadruple the filling, and as for the sponge well unless the photo is skewing things then I’ve eaten thicker toast.
It’s should be something you look at and think ‘Do I dare to try and bite into it? Or should I play safe and tackle it with a fork’. And it’s nothing to do with the small portion, we can buy mass produced mini victoria sponges from the grocery stores over here and they are still something like an inch to an inch and a half high. Actually, you can just see those for yourself http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/f7/7c/14/f77c14cc0e0925a94a4a0727ab89e272.jpg
As Rune says, it’s obviously a step in the right direction from the cookies, but it’s still pretty lame and yes, compared to what comes out of France it’s actually more than a little embarrassing. How disappointing, especially at that price.
Thanks for the review! I’ve wondered if it was any good! A Victoria sponge is so so cheap to make and fairly easy too! So, I will definitely be passing on spending $4+ on that tiny amount!
While it might not be the best presentation, it was pretty yummy. It tasted exactly like my mom’s jelly roll!
Can you imagine how mad people would go if they served battered mars bars instead. I am allergic to eggs so haven’t had one in 5 years.. but people would lose their minds..