👭 let's talk about food 😋 👭
Comments
-
Fruitcake is famously associated with Christmas, but less well known – and equally delicious – is its springtime cousin, the simnel cake. Lighter, sweeter and steeped in symbolism, this Easter bake is also one of the UK's most mysterious traditional treats.
The simnel cake we eat today is a light, almondy fruitcake made from white flour, sugar, butter, eggs, spices, dried fruit and candied peel. It has a layer of marzipan or almond paste baked into the middle, and orange flower water or brandy may be added to the cake batter or the filling.
What distinguishes it from other cakes is its decoration. Traditionally, simnel cake has another layer of almond paste or marzipan on top, and is adorned with 11 marzipan balls (representing the apostles, minus Judas). Edible flowers or Easter elements like toy chicks can be added as a final flourish.
There are some weird and wonderful theories about how the cake got its name – and one of the most humorous is a 19th-century tale about an old couple called Simon and Nell.
Legend has it that they decided to use leftover ingredients from Christmas to make a cake for spring, but they argued over what to do with the dough. Simon wanted to boil it, and Nell wanted to bake it. They compromised by doing both, with their invention becoming known as a Sim-Nell.
It's also been suggested that the cake is named after Lambert Simnel, a claimant to the throne during Henry VII’s time. Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell referenced this highly unlikely theory in a letter to a friend in 1838, when she shared her childhood recollections of eating simnel cake on Mothering Sunday in Knutsford, Cheshire.
1 -
Give it a try if you haven't, have someone make it home made, it's the best and filling.
0 -
Oyster stew has a taste all it's own. New England clam chowder would be a cousin of oyster stew. OTC crackers are very hard crackers in the shape of a ball. They are a little smaller than a golf ball. You have to crush the crackers in your hand to add them to your bowl. They were created in Trenton New Jersey USA. Other companies tried to copy the crackers but none came close. OTC stands for Original Trenton Cracker. Sadly the company went out of business a few years ago
0
