A Springtime Celebration Cake. A rich fruit cake with nuts, cherries and peel (White 1932), covered with icing (often with marzipan) and decorated, often with Springtime fancies and always with 11 sugar or paste balls, possibly representing the 11 Good Apostles.



Although there are several forms of Simnel Cake, it is the rich, highly decorated, Bury form which has become known nationwide. This is possibly because of a series of promotions for the town carried out in the early 19th Century, which included the presentation of a 70lb Bury Simnel to Queen Victoria in 1863 and the monster 170lb Bury Simnel displayed at the 'National Free-Trade Bazaar' held at the Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1845.


Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser
Wednesday 05 April 1848



...and for other Simnel Cakes, see:
Devizes Simnel Cake
Gloucester Simnel Cake
Shrewsbury Simnel Cake
Bury Simnel Cake