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.
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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