The Ottawa free trader., 1889-04-20
AN EASTER CARD.
THE SlMNEL CAKE.
A Curious Concoction of Pastry and Good
Things-Origin of the Name.

| Things-Orgin of the Name.
A very curious old Easter custom in
Shropshire and Herefordshire, England, is to
make a rich and expensive cake called sim
mel cake. The cakes are raised and the crust
Is made of fine -four and water with enough
saffron to give it deep yellow color. The
interior is filled with materials of very rich
plum cake, with plenty of candied lemon peel
and other good things. They are made up
very stiff, tied up in a cloth and boiled for
several hours, after which they are brushed
over with egg and then baked. When ready
for sale the crust is us hard as if made of
wood, 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
simne to be boiled TO soften it, and 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, will
| be best understood by the accompanying en-
craving, representing the large and small
cakes 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 simnels, and that in consequence of the
celebrity he gained by the acts of his son his
cakes have retained his name
But a much more curious story is one that
is current in Shropshire. 1t seems that long
ago there lived an honest old couple, boast
| ing the names Of Simeon and Nelly, but their
surnames are not known. 1t was their GUS
tom at Easter TO gather their children about
them and thus meet together once a 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 any
| thing, so she suggested they use the remains
| of the Lenten dough for the basis of a cake to
regale the assembled family. Simeon readily
| agreed TO the proposal, and further reminded
| his partner that there were still some remains
of their Christmas plum pudding boarded up
| in the cupboard, 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 a subject of violent discord
arose, Sim insisting that it should be boiled,
| while Nell no less obstnately contended that
it should be baked.
The dispute ran from words to blows, for
Nell, not choosing to vt her province in the
household be thus interfered with, jumped
up and threw the stool she was sitting on at
Sim, who on his part seized "a hesom and ap-
piled it with right good will TO the head and
shoulders of his spouse. She now seized tho
| broom, and the battle became so warm that
| it might have had very serious result had
| not Nell proposed as a 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 besom
and broom furnished fuel for the oven. Some
eggs which had been broken in the scutlle
were used to coat the outside of the pudding
when boiled, which gave it the shining gloss
it possesses as 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, and
it has ever since been known as the cake OF
Simnel