The Mothers Day Cake Connection
Mmm… cake. If you love sugary confections, March is the perfect window-shopping season. Bakeries are advertising their amazing Mothers Day cake selections, sending wafts of delicious smells into the street. Funnily enough, this connection to cake goes back hundreds of years, with generations of mums savouring special treats.
The Original Mothers Day Cake
You don’t need a time machine to discover the original Mothers Day cake. Simnel cakes pop up in modern and traditional baking, although we now see them as more of an Easter dessert.
They’re a light, spiced fruit cake, topped with almond paste and 11 balls of marzipan. These spheres represent the 12 disciples, minus Judas Iscariot, so it’s easy to see why we now serve it for Easter tea rather than on Mothers Day. The original Mothers Day was a very different occasion to what we now experience. Yes, it was an opportunity to honour women and children, but it was also a welcome break from the Lenten fast, something sweet to anticipate the feast at Easter, thus the Christian symbolism.
Simnel cakes were widely embraced, but if you fancy going a little more niche, try a mothering bun. These are a Bristol invention, circular buns decorated with white icing and hundreds and thousands. You’ve got to be quick though as these buns are traditionally only sold on one day – the day before Mothers Day!
European Cake Decoration
If a Bristol bun doesn’t appeal to you, head overseas for a European-style Mothers Day cake.
Mothers Day isn’t a universal holiday. In fact, it seems to appear spontaneously across cultures, with different dates, traditions, even different origins. For example, Emperor Napoleon introduced a day to honour the mothers of large families, and that was the origin of the French Mothers Day.
It looks rather different now, with kids giving cakes, flowers and cakes that look like flowers! Bouquet cakes are a Mothers Day staple, with vibrant colours and pretty petals that you can eat for your tea. There’s a similar theme in Italy, with certain regions full of pasticcerie selling traditional heart-shaped cakes. Delicious!
Bring It Home
Is your child skilled enough to bake one of these masterpieces? They can give it a go, but it might prove a challenge! To avoid egg-spattered surfaces and mounds of washing up, turn to your local baker for a Mothers Day cake.
Caking and Baking is on the scene, offering special celebration cakes from their Leamington shop! Their delicacies are freshly baked and individually hand-crafted, tailored for weddings, birthdays, hen parties, anniversaries, baby showers…The list goes on and on, including a delectable Mothers Day cake collection!
All mums get a free Caking and Baking cupcake when they eat at The Four Penny Pub this Mothers Day. They’re a nice light treat to follow a Sunday roast, which could feature an array of meats or a veggie celeriac steak, with vegan options also available on request. Click the link to view our Sunday menu!
Book A Table
Spaces are running out for our Mothers Day meals! Head to our website or call 01926 491360 to book a table.
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