Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday is the day, in the U.K., when people show appreciation for their mothers. Many people now call it "Mothers' Day", although the American Mothers' Day is a completely different occasion.
Mothering Sunday always occurs on the 4th Sunday of Lent. It will always be exactly 3 weeks before Easter (the date of Easter changes every year, and so does Mothering Sunday).
Mothering Sunday always occurs on the 4th Sunday of Lent. It will always be exactly 3 weeks before Easter (the date of Easter changes every year, and so does Mothering Sunday).
The history of Mothering Sunday
In the 1600s people would attend their 'mother church' on Mothering Sunday. The mother church would have either been their local cathedral (cathedrals are 'mother' churches for all the churches in a diocese) or the church in which they were baptised as babies. Servants, who worked in big houses away from their families would be allowed to take a day off and this would often mean a journey home to the mother church, where they would also have the opportunity to meet with their brothers, sisters and parents. The head cook would allow the servants to make a special cake, called Simnel Cake, which they were allowed to take home to their mother. This cake would then be kept to be eaten on Easter Sunday, as eating it on Mothering Sunday would break the 'fast' of Lent.
Simnel Cake
Simnel Cake
Simnel Cake is a fruit cake, covered with a flat layer of marzipan. It is decorated with 11 balls of marzipan on the top of the cake. Simnel cake is traditionally eaten at Easter - the 11 balls represent the 11 faithful disciples of Jesus.
Click here for Delia Smith's Simnel Cake Recipe.
Click here for Delia Smith's Simnel Cake Recipe.