Friday, January 2, 2015

Epiphany Sweet Treat



Twelfth Night Cake


There are many holiday traditions that have been passed down throughout history. Over time, many have been modified – modernized, so to speak. One such example is Twelfth Night, a Christian festival named after the end of the twelve days of modern Christmas Day. Twelfth Night celebrations still take place today in the United Kingdom on the eve of January 5th. This medieval holiday began at sunset and continued until the start of the next day.

As were many community gatherings this one also centered on food and drink. In the United Kingdom it was a time to indulge in a variety of prepared foods.  Twelfth Night cake is one of the most popular holiday foods.

Twelfth Night Cake, also sometimes referred to as the King’s Cake  is a rich and dense fruitcake that contained not just the typical cake ingredients but also one bean that turned the dessert into a game. Finding the bean in your slice of Twelfth Night cake was an honor. Back in the day, this meant that everyone had to follow what you said for the night. Sometimes other objects were baked into the treat that weren’t so appealing. Finding a clove, for example, meant that you were the villain, a twig signified a fool and a rag meant you were a tarty girl.

It was still fun, though, to see if there was anything added to your piece.

Here are a few recipes you might want to try:


Prior to Easter  Christians also bake another kind of King’s Cake.

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