Twelfth Night cake
(from late 18th century book of ballads, The Twelfth Cake. A Juvenile
Amusement, Reginald Spofforth)
With preparations yet to complete
for tonight’s Twelfth Night celebrations,
journeyed into Derby this afternoon to make some essential
purchases; but also with hopes of catching a glimpse of the great
Twelfth cakes. The crowds around the pastry cooks were large, and it was with
relief that I heard no cries of ‘thief’ among the multitudes; London newspaper
reports (published in the local press - until the later 19th century, confined to the Derby
Mercury) had made me wary of the pickpockets such gatherings attract.[i] I was
also gratified to see that another Twelfth Day custom of the Capital (news of
which I encountered in a book of days) seems not to have taken hold in our more
practical town: that sport of errant youth, the nailing of the gowns and coat
tails of lady and gentlemen onlookers to the shop front, and to one another![ii]
Twelfth Day: clothes
nailed to pasty-shop windows. William Hone (1835) The Every Day Book vol.
1
But, returning to the
confectionery! I have heard of colossal cakes of the past – such as the
45-pound cake, with 45 decorations (I suspect that the number 45 is a reference
to the 1745 Jacobite uprising), said to be sent to the radical John Wilkes in
1769![iii] I
hope that the cake due to be delivered this evening is substantial, but not to
this extent!
The competition for the best
Twelfth Cake, baked by local pastry-cooks, and viewed by numerous townsfolk,
has become popular in Derby, as elsewhere. I took interest in the above
newspaper article (Derby Mercury, January 8th 1823) that describes their various and
elaborate designs.
The advertisement shown above (on
the front page of the Derby Mercury) demonstrates that
Twelfth Night was good for the confectionery business! (In this
case the cake show, as with other festivities, was held on the 7th, due
to the 6th falling on the Sabbath.)
I must now return to
preparations, and to welcome my guests (who are due to arrive imminently); I
hope to write a favourable report of the party, after they have departed on the
8th!
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