A blog post by Waste Nott Director Liz Thomas
Ever wonder why we eat fruit cake at Christmas?
Well it all started in medieval times when people ate a plum porridge to line their stomachs after fasting before mid-winter.
By the 16th century, extra ingredients were included like flour – to replace the oats – eggs and butter. This transformed the mix into a cake. Then exotic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg were added to represent the wise men from the East.
Originally, the cake would be eaten on Twelfth night, the last day of Christmas. Then in Victorian times, this changed as people didn’t have such a long holiday, so the cake was eaten on the first day of Christmas so everyone could have a share before going back to work.
The icing represents winter snow, and the marzipan adds an extra rich layer to the fruit cake.
It’s not too late to make your cake!
Talking cakes—have you made yours yet? Good time to do it now so that you can feed it with brandy to make it even more moist before the festive celebrations begin.
All the main ingredients you will need are in our shop, so come on down to Waste Nott on Haydn Road and stock up!
You may already have tasted the samples of our very own recipe in the shop during late October. If so you’ll know it’s a sumptuous cake with a sharp citrus zing from the fresh lemons and oranges and a warm winter glow from the crystallised ginger !
It costs approximately £12 to make a cake big enough for 20 generous portions. It’s a quick, easy recipe and the cake has a truly home made taste. What could be better to top the Christmas feast?