Tea at Trianon: Christmas Cake

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, December 4, 2015

Christmas Cake

From Madame Gilflurt's blog:

The history of Christmas cake is a muddled one. It is thought that its origins lay in the Christmas pudding (plum pudding) and the Twelfth Night cake. The (steamed) pudding dates back to the sixteenth century, while the (baked) cake came a little later as people gradually put ovens in their
homes.

The twelfth night cake was baked and eaten on the twelfth day of Christmas (the epiphany). As Christmas day became more popular during the Victorian period, the cake became linked with the day and so was eaten on the 25th of December. Victorian bakers began to make marzipan mix and cover the cakes with festive decorations. Households have been divided ever since as to whether marzipan is good to eat or horrible.

Christmas cake is still very popular in England and the Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In my home (my dad was from the north of England) it is traditional to eat it with a strong, hard cheese. The sharp cheese is a great partner to the sweetness of the cake. (Read more.)