Where Do Traditional Simnel Cakes Come From?

What is a Simnel Cake?

A Simnel Cake is a delicate, lightly spiced fruit cake that is traditionally eaten at Easter. It is made with two layers of marzipan, one on the top and the other in the middle, giving it a sweet and slightly almondy flavour! Although traditionally eaten at Easter, it used to be specifically associated with Mothering Sunday. When folk were fasting during Lent, Mothering Sunday, appearing in the middle of the fast, offered a respite from 40 days of religious austerity.

Where do they come from?

It is said that the origin of this tasty Simnel Cake goes back to the medieval ages when it began life as a yeast-leavened bread. Girls in domestic service would go home on Mothering Sunday to visit their mothers. The girls would bake a cake similar to the Simnel Cake we know and love today, and decorate it with beautiful fresh flowers for their mothers to enjoy. However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that the cake became associated with Easter Sunday and was topped with 11 marzipan balls to represent Jesus’s 11 disciples, not including Judas.

Our Simply Delicious Simnel Cakes

Our handmade Easter cakes are baked using a traditional recipe with a buttery almond flavour balanced with sugar and mixed spices. The cakes are individually decorated by hand with eleven marzipan balls, and there is a layer of marzipan running through the middle of the cake too.

Stock up on traditional Simnel Cakes now and prepare for the Easter celebration!