TWELFTH NIGHT : OR, KING AND QUEEN.
by Robert HerrickNOW, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
Where bean’s the king of the sport here ;
Beside we must know,
The pea also
Must revel, as queen, in the court here.Begin then to choose,
This night as ye use,
Who shall for the present delight here,
Be a king by the lot,
And who shall not
Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here.Which known, let us make
Joy-sops with the cake ;
And let not a man then be seen here,
Who unurg’d will not drink
To the base from the brink
A health to the king and queen here.Next crown a bowl full
With gentle lamb’s wool :
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale too ;
And thus ye must do
To make the wassail a swinger.Give then to the king
And queen wassailing :
And though with ale ye be whet here,
Yet part from hence
As free from offence
As when ye innocent met here.
J. Greaze - Gateau au Rois
I know- wrong country, wrong century and you can hardly see the cake….
This is a modern Kingcake, not an early modern babycake.
Tags: ale, bean, cake, drink, ginger, joy-sops, king, lambswool, nutmeg, pea, plum, queen, Robert Herrick, sugar, wassail
the king cake pictured above I’ve seen for mardi gras in new orleans? our local grocery store sells them too. would they be used the same way for 12th nite?
We love your blog my daughter is learning to hearth cook here in Pa. she’s
11 1/2 yrs old and loves it!!!
regards,
Linda W.
Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday – is the day before Ash Wednesday. This tri-colored top cake has become the cake for both days, making the Christmas season last from Advent to Ash Wednesday.
There’s nothing like cooking with fire…a Pilgrim salute for the Pennsylvania hearth cook!
In 1872 Rex Krewe chose purple (for justice), green (for faith) and gold (for power) as the colors for the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade and they’ve been icing the cakes ever since.