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Next: 7 Mar 2027

Mothering Sunday and simnel cake

The fourth Sunday of Lent, once a break in the fast, with a spiced simnel cake topped with eleven marzipan balls.

Simnel cake Photo taken by User:Edward on 14th April 2006 using a Casio EX-S600.
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Edward assumed (based on copyrigh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Spices for Mothering Sunday and simnel cake

Mothering Sunday was a day when servants went home to their mother church and families, and Lent was relaxed enough for a rich cake. Simnel cake is a fruit cake with a layer of marzipan baked inside and on top, flavoured with mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg, with eleven balls representing the apostles without Judas. The cake grew from medieval spiced bread and is today an Easter baking classic.

The spices

Mixed spiceWarm base of the fruit cake.NutmegGrated into the batter.
About this page

Written by the EveryMasala desk with AI assistance. Background: "Simnel cake" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven spices you may not know, what is cooking this week, and one blend explained step by step.