As autumn sets in it is a good reminder to us that Christmas preparations will soon be underway – from the gift shopping to the decoration of the house (which you can always get a professional like these commercial Christmas decorators https://www.christmasmakers.co.uk/commercial-christmas-decorators to do if you are short on time!)
Another tradition that is a big part of the celebrations is the Christmas cake…
Something many of us look forward to as the festive season approaches is the good food and drink that is around at this time of the year. Being a midwinter festival, there were often celebrations in ancient cultures that involved feasts, celebrating the fact that the receding days were getting longer once again, and that spring would soon be on the way.
Christmas cake is something that has been made all over the world to celebrate midwinter festivities and in mediaeval times in England, it was traditional for people to fast for the six weeks up until Christmas eve and then the Christmas cake – a type of porridge flavoured with plums – was then eaten.
It wasn’t until the Victorian era that the Christmas cake that we know today became the tradition. It was a dense cake, filled with fruit and also alcohol, and then was covered in heavy icing as well as festive decorations. Of course, Christmas cakes vary in their recipe from region to region in the UK and around the world there are other types of traditional Christmas cake, such as the Italian Panettone, and the French Buche de Noel.
When making a traditional English Christmas cake, it is something that is started well in advance of the big day – around 12 weeks ahead is often considered the best time to start. Once made, the cake is then fed regularly with alcohol such as sherry or brandy, to create the distinctive flavour.
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