Easter's nearly upon us and all our thoughts turn to food.
This year, why not make yourself a Simnel cake? A moist, rich fruitcake with one layer of the finest almond paste in the centre and another on top. Decorated in the traditional way with eleven small balls of marzipan that represent the twelve disciples, minus Judas because Judas did not like marzipan.
Not many people know that the highlight of the Last Supper was in fact Simnel cake. Jesus himself couldn't get enough fruitcake and used to lick the bowl whenever his mother baked one. It is rumoured that he came back from the dead because he thought he smelt fruitcake cooking.
The eleven disciples who liked marzipan regularly had Marzipan Nights on the first Sunday of every month. Peter was a marzipan glutton and would regularly eat whole bars of the stuff in one sitting.
Judas, however, felt a little left out. The Last Supper was the last straw for him, literally, as he was left to munch on cheese straws as the other lads tucked into their marzipan sodden treat. He never felt less like one of the chaps as he did that night.
Readers beware.
ReplyDeleteAlmonds, the principle ingredient of marzipan, is a well known hallucinogen. At the last supper, Jesus ate only lentils, rice and seasonal vegetables. No animals were harmed. Pudding consisted of a nice vegan pie with soya custard. Check the gospel according to Matthew if you don't believe me.
Would you pop a piece in the Post?
ReplyDeleteWe don't have Simnel cake in the Colonies.
Vicus - Whatever they ate, how did they keep their lovely figures?
ReplyDeleteMJ - I would but I'm scared the disciples might come off.
Apart from all the religious nonsense, I was just like Peter.
ReplyDeleteI used to love that pink and yellow marzipan covered Battenburg cake.
When I was a kid I used to eat a whole one all by myself. Yes I was a bit chubby then.
I couldn't get enough of it, either. My mum used to make Simnel cake (without the disciples) and I would wolf it down. Battenburg was great too.
ReplyDeleteOne of those chicks has lost an eye, and another has no beak.
ReplyDeleteDo the same ones come out year after year* or is it a social inclusion cake?
*mine used to, but then I am from Yorkshire.
I think the eye and the beak are somewhere up in the loft and Johnny Craddock's no longer around to hunt them down and stick them on.
ReplyDeleteI've never had Simnel Cake. In fact I hadn't even heard of it until recently.
ReplyDeleteGod, you and Betty showing me up with all your fancy food.
Betty hadn't heard of Simnel cake, either. I don't know where my mum got the recipe but I was so grateful she discovered it.
ReplyDeleteI've been cake and pudding-free for years, though. So it's just a good memory.
The Be-Ro book.
ReplyDeleteThat's where I got the recipe from anyway. Back in the olden days when I was getting points for being a proper mum.
Did you make that one with your own fair hand?
ReplyDeleteThat cake seems to remind me of Blancmange.
ReplyDeleteI hear blancmange is good for upset stomachs.
Beth - Now I hadn't heard of Be-Ro. My mum had an old Homepride book, flour caked on every yellowing page. Maybe still has it.
ReplyDeleteAnnie - I'm afraid I'm not that creative. I did used to make biscuits with ginger and rice flour. They were bloody strange but not meant for christians.
Istvanski - Are you living on the ceiling? Blancmange is not good for upset stomachs. And it's not good for your ears.
I was all set to make a simnel cake for Easter but baulked at paying $20 for the three packets I'd need!!
ReplyDeleteIs it this expensive in the UK now? If not, I'll add it to my next emergency supply parcel list.
Bad enough never having an Easter egg....sniff.
You see I'm so upset I forgot to include the important word "marzipan".
ReplyDeleteDespair.
£1.42 for a 500g slab at Asda. You can get a whole Simnel cake for seven quid, including the 11 disciples or "Brazil" as I prefer to call them.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am delighted that the reputation of Judas is currently being rewritten in a positive light. Redheads around the globe may now rejoice and breath a sigh of relief...they will however still require a generous application of sunscreen should they venture out of doors whenever fog is unavailable to conceal their movements.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Judas on the cake. If Jesus can forgive him, so can we.
ReplyDeleteNice little theological nugget there, Geoff.
ReplyDeleteThat's all I need: 500g of marzipan. Twenty cowing dollars! We're having chocolate cake. Think of poor Arabella when you get almond nausea this Easter.
More likely to be beer nausea.
ReplyDeleteOooh, I have 2 packs of marzi in the cupboard. I like making flapjack and crumble with a layer of marzi. Wicked person, now I just have to have some marzi!
ReplyDeleteVicus was right. Almonds are addictive.
ReplyDeleteTake the letters of Judas and you have sadju I believe he suffered depression which back then was quite taboo and easy to blame things on him. I only got 29 pieces of silver after tax.............bloody Romans.
ReplyDelete