The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-04-20
THE sIMNEL CAKE.
Curious Co0e0etI0n OF Pastry and
Coed Things-Origln OF the Name.

A very curious old Easter custom in Shrop-
shire and Herefordshire, England, is to make
a rich and expensive cake called simnel
cake. The cakes are raised and the crust is
made of fine -four and water with enough saf-
from to give it a deep yellow color. The in
terror is filed with materials of very rich
plum cake, with plenty of candied lemon
peel aud other good things. They are made
up very stiH. tied up in a cloth and boiled for
several hours, after which they are brushed
over with an egg and then baked. When
ready for sale the crust is as hard as if made
Of wood, a circumstance which has given rise
to various stories of the manner in which they
have at times been treated by persons to
whom they were sent as presents, and who
had never seen one before, one ordering his
simnel to be boiled to soften 1t, and a lady
taking hers for footstool. They are made
of different sizes, as may be supposed from
the ingredients. Their form, which, as well
as the ornamentation, is nearly uniform.
One Of the most curious things about these
cakes are the tales which have arisen TO
explain how they first got their name. Some
pretend that the father of Lambert Simnel,
the well known pretender of the reign of
Henry VII, was a baker and the first maker
of simnes, and that in consequence Of the
celebrity he gained by the acts Of his son his
cakes have retained his name.
But much more curious story is one that
is carreRt in Shropshire. 1t seems that long
ago their lived an honest old couple. boasting
the names of Simeon and Nelly, but their sur
names are not known. 1t was their custom
at Easter TO gather their children about them
and thus meet together once year under the
old homestead. The fasting season of Lent was
Just ending, but they had still left some of the
unleavened dough which had been from time
to time converted into bread during the forty
days Nelly was a careful woman, and it
grieved her to waste anything, so she suggest
ed they use the remains of the Lenten dough
for the basis of cake to regale the assembled
family. Simeon readily agreed to tho pro-
posal, and further reminded his partner that
there we're still some remains of their Christ
mas plum pudding boarded up in the cup
board, and that this might form the interior
and be an agreeable surprise to the young
people when they had made their way through
the less tasty crust. So far, all things went
on harmouiously, but when the cake was
made subject of violent diseord arose. Sim
insisting that it should be boiled, while Nell
no less obstinately contended that it shoald
be baked
The dispute ran from words to blows, for
Nell, not choosing to let her province in the
household be thus inteESered with, jumped up
and threw the stool she was sitting on at Sim,
who on his part seized besom and applied
| it with right good will to the head and
shoulders of his spouse. She now seized the
it might have had very serious result had
not Nell proposed as compromise that the
cake should be boiled first and afterwards
baked. This Sim agreed to, for he had no
wish for further acquaintance with the heavy
end of the broom. Accordingly the big pot
was set on the FIRE and the stool broken up
and thrown on to boil it, whilst the bosom and
broom furnished fuel for the oven. Some
eggs which had been broken in the seufffe
were used to coat the outside Of the pudding
when boiled, which gave it the shining gloss
it possesses as a cake. This new and remark
able production in the art of confectionery
became known as the cake of Simeon and
Nelly, but soon only the first half of each
name was preserved and joined together, ana
it has ever since been known as the cake Of
Simnel.
These are by no means the only sources
from which the name is said to be derived.
It's found in early English and also in French, /,
and it appears in medieval Latin under the
form of smanellus or siminelus. 1t is cons
sdered to be derived from the Latin simila,
fine -four, and is usually interpreted as mean
ing the finest kind of white bread made in the
middle ages. 1t is evidently used, however,
by the medieval writers to mean cake,
which they called in Latin of that time arto-
copus, which is constantly explained by sim
mel in the Latin English vocabularies,
At any rate this cake is certainly Of very
ancient origin, and it is veEy curious custom
which has been handed down for so many
i generations,