Pineapple and Walnut Cake

Every time Downton breaks out into a party, there are lots of cakes. Generally plainly decorated, they fill the kitchen and then the cake stands at the village fair, the church fund-raiser, and the memorable garden party at the close of season 1, which ends with the announcement that Britain is at war. This recipe’s use of glacéed pineapple reflects the growing availability of previously exotic products in the twentieth century: pineapple still carried a certain cachet from the time when it