Why simnel cake at easter

You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account.

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Email Address:. Go on then British Food: A History. Skip to content. Buy that man a pint. Share this: Tweet. Like this: Like Loading Your simnel cake looks quite impressive!

Cheers man! Thanks for linking to the blog! Lord Frazer Irwin. Bettys of Harrogate still make Simnel Cakes to what they call a traditional recipe. Gordon Johnson. This account is generally held to fail on account of the fact that English historical references to cakes called Simnel long predate his time.

The public saga began in , a year after Henry VII had killed Richard III at the battle of Bosworth and seized the crown, when a young man claiming to be a Yorkist prince appeared out of the blue with the intent to depose the usurper and reclaim the throne for the legitimate royal line.

Ashdown-Hill using previously unpublished sources, has sought to suggest that the true identity was indeed that of the Yorkist heir, and that he had a stronger claim to the throne than Henry VII.

Complex though the contested accounts of the history certainly are, they are colourful and worth recalling. They are set out from the work of Ashdown Hill who was involved in the recent uncovering of the remains of Richard III as an appendix below. Another improbable theory is evidently upheld in Shropshire particularly, where the name has been said to derive from a contraction of the names of one Simon and his sister Nell who decided, according to an apparent custom of Mediaeval times, to make a cake for their mother in relation to what we now call Mothering Sunday from which time it is alleged it might have been kept for the following Easter.

Sadly they are alleged to have disagreed about whether to boil or bake their cake. And from this strange alleged culinary mishap the cake of today eventually emerged. The Devizes Simnel is by tradition made in the shape of a star, while the Bury simnel cake is a flat spiced cake. The best known however, is the Shrewsbury Simnel with its layer of marzipan in the middle of a rich fruit cake and this type of cake is the one we mostly think of as bearing the name Simnel Cake today.

Perhaps the most plausible theory however, is the simplest, which is that the name simnel merely derives from theLatin word from which we also derive the name semolina, namely simila meaning fine, as in fine white flour. Such flour is indeed used in the mix of rich ingredients found in the Simnel cake which brings us to a recipe and just how to prepare your own:. Add lemon juice, almond essence and enough egg to form a fairly dry but malleable paste. To test for when it is cooked one can probe with skewer which should come out more or less clean with just the almond paste remaining sticky, or one can press the cake lightly with a finger; which should disclose it to be relatively firm.

Lambert Simnel putative 17 th Earl of Warwick. It is known that he was born on 25 th February , Warwick Castle and official history has tended to follow the Tudor version which ends with his being beheaded for treason, on Tower Hill, on 28 th November But there is an alternative possibility. He became scared about the future of his surviving children — and himself. Fear for his children led to plans to smuggle Edward out of the country — and to contacts with Ireland.

Thus, as his third birthday approached, Edward Earl of Warwick found himself orphaned. His uncle, Edward IV, sent for him. Unlike the rich, heavy fruit cake traditionally eaten at Christmas, the Easter Simnel is much lighter but it is made with similar ingredients, including raisins, sultanas and lemon zest. Interestingly, the Tudors used saffron in their Simnel cakes, but this is rarely used now.

Marzipan or almond paste is usually used as an inner layer and topping. However, if you are not a fan of marzipan, you could always substitute the 11 balls on top with Maltesers, Mini Eggs or little Easter chicks to give it a modern and tasty twist.