Twelfth Cake

Twelfth evening is a carnival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany and completing the Twelve Days of Christmas. It is characterised by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, previously the last day of the Christmas festivities and discerned as a time of merrymaking". However, there is actually some confusion as to which night is Twelfth evening: some enumerate the night of Epiphany itself (sixth of January) to be Twelfth Night. One source of this disarray is the Medieval made-to-order of beginning each new day at sunset, so that Twelfth Night precedes Twelfth Day. (Marix,12-16)

Alatest custom in some English-speaking nations retains that it is unfortunate to depart Christmas adornments hanging after Twelfth evening, a conviction initially attached to the carnival of Candlemas (2 February).

In medieval and Tudor England[citation needed], the Twelfth evening marked the end of a winter carnival that started on All Hallows Eve — now more routinely renowned as Halloween. The Lord of Misrule symbolizes the world turning upside down. On this day the monarch and all those who were high would become the peasants and vice versa. At the starting of the Twelfth Night carnival, a cake that comprised a bean was eaten. The individual who discovered the bean would rule the feast. Midnight indicated the end of his direct and the world would come back to normal. The common theme was that the usual alignment of things was reversed. This Lord of Misrule custom can be traced[citation required] to pre-Christian European carnivals such as the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia.

ASpanish Roscón de reyes, or monarchs' ring. This size, approx. 50 centimetres diameter, generally serves 8 people. This pastry is just one of the numerous kinds baked around the world for celebrations throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas and Twelfth Night. (Marix,12-16)

Food and drink are the center of the commemorations in modern times, and all of the most customary ones go back many centuries. The hit called wassail is consumed especially on Twelfth Night, but throughout Christmas time, particularly in the UK. Aaaaround the world, exceptional pastries, such as the tortell and monarch baked cake are ovenbaked on Twelfth evening, and eaten the following day for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations. In English and French made-to-order, the Twelfth-cake was baked to comprise a bean and a pea, so that those who obtained the slices encompassing them should be designated king and ruler of the night's festivities.

In colonial America, a Christmas wreath was always left up on the front doorwayway of each home, and when taken down at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, any edible portions would be consumed with the other foods of the feast. The identical held factual in the 19th-20th centuries with fruits adorning Christmas trees. Fresh fruits were hard to come by, and were therefore advised fine and correct presents and decorations for the tree, ...