Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday is usually celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent. The biblical story of feeding of the five thousand, Jesus broke five bread loaves and two small fishes which multiplied. This narrative is usually read at church to understand that the rules of fasting for Lent are relaxed but only for this day.  Mother’s day was once recognised as being a day given to domestic servants to relive them from their chores and to spend time with their mothers. The girls traditionally brought a Simnel cake with them when they visited home on mothering Sunday. Today we celebrate Mothering Sunday by giving cards, flowers or presents to our mothers or grandmothers.

Simnel cake is traditionally associated with mothering Sunday and Easter-time.The cake is made up of dried fruit with two layers of almond paste.  It is then decorated on top with marzipan and eleven marzipan icing balls to represent the 11 disciples that was faithful to Jesus.  The recipe for the Simnel Cake is a basic cake recipe but with quite a bit of marzipan for the decoration. However, I am not a big fan of too much marzipan but I will have an attempt to baking the cake for my mum. She absolutely loves marzipan and of course it is meant to be Mothering Sunday

Before making the cake you would need a large round cake tin and some grease lining as it makes the baking easier. The oven also needs to be preheated to around 150c or gas mark 2. The ingredients for Simnel Cake is a selection of dried fruit (sultanas, currants, cherries), 2oz of candied peel, 4 Large eggs, 8oz of soft butter, 8oz of self-raising flour, 8oz of light muscovado sugar, Zest grated from 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of mixed spice.  The ingredients for the cake decoration and filling are 1lb of marzipan and 2 tablespoons of apricot jam.

First you need to cut the cherries into quarters and then rinse them in a sieve and drain well. Once that is done, place the cherries in a large mixing bowl with the other dried fruit. Add the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, lemon zest and mixed spice to the bowl and mix together thoroughly to form a cake mixture. Once it has all been beaten together pour all the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Using one-third of the marzipan, roll it out into a circle of the size of the tine and then place it on the top of the cake mixture. The remaining of the cake mixture can be spooned on top of the marzipan and even out the mixture on the surface. It can now be place ready to bake in the prepared oven for about 2 hours and thirty minutes whilst checking that the cake has risen and turned brown. Once it has baked it has to be decorated but it first needs to cool down. Once, it has cooled brush the top with warm apricot jam and roll out the rest of the marzipan. Place it on top of the cake and crimp the edges to decorate. Mark a criss-cross pattern on the marzipan with a sharp knife. Form the remaining marzipan into 11 balls. Brush the marzipan with beaten egg and arrange the marzipan balls around the edge of the cake.

This is a thoughtful gift to share with your mother and enjoyed with the whole family for  tea-time.  

St Davids Day

Spring-time is a start of many religious and national celebrations. St David’s day or Dewi Sant as pronounced in the Welsh language is celebrated on the 1^st of March who was a Celtic Priest in the sixth Century who spread the word of Christianity to his Celtic followers. He later became the Archbishop of Wales before he died to become celebrated as the Patron Saint of Wales. In Wales today we celebrate this day with cooking traditional welsh food.

A traditional welsh breakfast would consist of having fresh cockles and laverbread along with your bacon and eggs. Whenever I visit the Swansea Gower I always have to indulge in fresh cockles with lots of malt vinegar and white pepper. Cawl is the welsh name given to soup that is made up of lamb, potatoes and vegetables. My Grand-mother was notorious for cooking the best home-made cawl ever, and it was always comforting to eat on a cold evening for supper or when feeling a bit under -the-weather.

Recipe for Cawl:

600g of Lamb pieces, 600g of diced potatoes, 200g of Carrots, 200g Swede, 200g Parsnips, 1 Cabbage, 2 Leeks, 1 Onion, Fresh Parsley, Salt and Pepper.

Firstly you need to brown the lamb in a frying pan with a little bit of oil making sure you drain out the fat, you can add a bit of salt and pepper when browning. Then whilst that is cooking boil some fresh cold water in a large stock pot and then once the meat is done add it to the boiling water. This has to boil further for another half an hour. Then chop up all your vegetables and add to the pot with a bit more seasoning. This has to be covered and left to cook for a good hour before it is ready to start serving. Serve this with a nice handful of fresh parsley on top and a bit of extra pepper if you want.

Welsh Cakes or ‘Pice ar y mean’ was a tea-time favourite in our house when I was a young. Whenever I eat them now brings back nostalgia to a time arriving home from school being greeted by my mum and the smell of the fresh cakes being cooked on the hot stove. I sometimes would add a nice spread of butter and my favourite jam. I enjoy cooking this with my children as this recipe is so simple and most cost effective as it is made from the cheapest ingredients so you will not break your bank balance!

Recipe for Welsh Cakes:

For the ingredients you would need; 200g of Plain Flour,  85g Caster Sugar, ½ teaspoon of Mixed Spice, ½ teaspoon of Baking Powder, 50g of Butter, 50g of lard, 50g of Currants, 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of Milk.  


Firstly, sieve the flour and using your hands rub the lard and butter into the flour, then add the currants, mixed spice and the egg. Now get a wooden spoon to mix the rest and add a splash of milk. Once it is all mixed into a dough and start rolling it out. Start cutting out into circles about 10 cm using a cutter. Grease the flat pan and then start heating up to add the cakes. Once they start cooking keep checking to turn the cakes over to the other side then remove and serve!!         

It's Pancake day!!

It's Pancake Day, which means to it is time to start cracking the eggs and mixing up the batter. I love pancakes although I usually tend to eat them for breakfast on the weekends, when I am having a fat-day, than on a Tuesday afternoon for tea - but I prefer to eat them sweet rather than savory by adding some strawberries and raspberries.

Pancake day is another name for Shrove Tuesday, which is the last day before the start of Lent, that means the last day to indulge in the food that will be forbidden for next several weeks leading up to the start of Easter. Pancakes are traditionally made in regard to celebrating Shrove Tuesday with egg, flour and milk which are the ingredients that are forbidden to eat during the fasting of Lent. This festival is celebrated within the Christian faith and how it is now time to reflect on making a small sacrifice and being more self-giving to others.

Ingrediants: Egg, Flour, Milk, Cocoa Powder

Firstly you would need a large mixing bowl where you will add your flour, egg and milk. The batter needs to be smooth, no lumps, so get your arms ready for some fast whisking. I then add some bournville cocoa to the batter for the chocolate taste. I have learnt in creating the perfect pancake is to make the pan hot with a bit oil and covering the pan with a thin layer of the batter mix. The pancake will start to form then get ready to flip it over to brown the other side.  Pancakes are at its best when they are wafer thin so less batter is always more, although practice makes perfect. It is also nice to finish it off with some fresh fruit. So get ready to flip some pancakes.

My very own chocolate pancake reciepe is a favourite with my young children.



Home-made Pancake with my favourite fruit.



Food and Religion

Food is a significant part to many religions and celebrating national festivals. Some recipes are traditional that have been passed down through generations. There are many religions where food is a very sacred way to practising and worshipping that religion. In some faiths certain foods are abstained to be consumed on a particular day or time, however, there are food that are not permitted to be consumed altogether. In the Islamic faith for instance, Ramadan is considered to be a holy month where Muslims abstain from eating during day and feast at sunset.  Catholics also have several feasts and fasting days during the year which includes Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. The most acknowledged feast days that are traditionally celebrated by many are Easter and Christmas.

In Christianity, the biblical book of Genesis represents food since the beginning of God’s creation. When God created Adam and Eve the presence of food in the Garden of Eden acts as metaphors as being good or evil. God informs Adam not to eat the fruit from one particular tree, however temptation overcomes man and he deceives God’s wishes. Food continues to be symbolic within biblical narratives and is a major part of the last supper and the crucifixion of Jesus.

So in this blog I will explore some of the true traditional and modern food that are served and eaten to celebrate and acknowledge religious events. I will look at recipes that have been used in past traditional Christian occasions and will be incorporating my own recipes.