Norfolk Biffin Cakes were in fact not cakes as we think of “cakes”, but rather baked Norfolk Beefing apples, sold cold.
These were slowly cooked whole, then cored, then rubbed with sugar.
You would eat them cold or room temperature. To eat, you would peel off the tough skin, and garnish with more sugar and cream.
These are no longer popular, as our taste is now for hot baked apples, stuffed with raisins, etc.
Literature & Lore
“Norfolk Biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of oranges and lemons, and in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner”. — Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.