Simnel Sunday

[Christina]

We've reached the 4th Sunday in Lent as measured by the Christian calendar.
Here in the UK it is also Mothering Sunday.

Originally it was the Sunday when people would come into town to the 'mother church' of the parish instead of worshipping at the chapel-of-ease in their home village.
Some time between C16 and C19 it evolved into a holiday for apprentices and girls in service, when they could go home to visit their mothers, taking with them gifts of flowers and a simnel cake.

The Simnel Cake is basically a rich fruit cake decorated with 11 almond paste balls, symbolising the faithful apostles.
It wasn't eaten straight away, but saved for the end of Lent. A well made fruit cake always gets better with some age.

[Holodoc]

Now there was an interesting story. Thanks for the education. Is this something you observe? Is there a traditional method of storing the cake until the end of Lent?

***Holodoc feebly attempts to refrain from suggesting that a good fruitcake can take the place of a hammer when replacing the shingling during spring cleaning. That could explain why it's made at this time in certain parts of the world.

[Christina]

Airtight container.

No, I don't bake very often. I do a Christmas cake on the same lines, and store it for the length of Advent, giving it a teasspoon of brandy every week or so......

Very popular recipe.

[Peter_Pevensie]

Christina said:

......giving it a teasspoon of brandy every week or so......

Actually, that same method kept my paternal great grandmoter alive for almost 100 years, so I'm sure it works great with Christmas cake. ;D

<Edit:  Actually, as I think about it, she may have had a wee bit more than a teasspoon per week... >