Hve You Baked Your Simnel Cake Yet?

Today (Sunday) is known as Mothering Sunday in the Churches Calendar NOT MOTHERS DAY - which is an American addition!

Mothering Sunday is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe. Secularly it became a celebration of motherhood. It is increasingly being called Mother's Day, although that other holiday has a completely different origin.

Did you know that a religious festival celebrating motherhood has been existent in Europe since neolithic times! In the Roman religion the Hilaria festival was held in honour of the mother goddess Cybele and it took place during mid-March. As the Roman Empire and Europe converted to Christianity, this celebration became part of the liturgical calendar and was known as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent to honour the Virgin Mary and the “mother church”.

During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was held at either a large local church, or more often than not the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this preceded the term Mothering Sunday is unclear.

In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since in other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours.


Many churches give out bunches of Daffodils or Primroses for the children to take to their mothers on Mothering Sunday.

A Simnel Cake

In some places it is traditional to bake a Simnel Cake. The Simnel cake is a fruit cake. A flat layer of marzipan (sugar almond paste) is placed on top of and decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ.

The word simnel probably derived from the latin word ‘simila’, meaning fine, wheaten flour from which the cakes were made.

A Simnel Cake is still made in many parts of England today. It was not eaten on Mothering Sunday because of the rules of Lent, (fasting etc.) It is now more commonly made for, and eaten on Easter Day .

HAPPY MOTHERING SUNDAY!