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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