In 2001 the Balfours Frog Cake was named a Heritage Icon by the National Trust of Australia.
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In 1856 James Calder established a bakery in Adelaide, called the City Stream Biscuit Factory. John Balfour, his nephew, joined him in 1877. A few years later the business was renamed Calder and Balfour. By 1922 they had a popular chain of six tearooms called Balfours in Adelaide. They adopted a green frog cake as a trade mark.
The cakes are made in the shape of a frog's head on a square sponge cake coated in jam (the frog's body). The frog's head is made from a firm butter cream, and both the body and head are covered in a fondant icing. The delicacy is now used to promote the whole State of South Australia to both locals and tourists.
The Encyclopaedia of South Australian Culture quotes Balfours as describing the cake as "delicious sponge topped with a special butter cream and enrobed in colour fondant."
