christmas cakes

 

In   the  16^th century oatmeal  was removed from the original recipe and butter, wheat flour & eggs were added. These ingredients helped hold the mixture together and in what resulted in a boiled plum cake. Richer  families  that  had ovens  began  making  fruit  cakes  with  marzipan and almond  sugar paste  for Easter.  For Christmas  they  made a  similar cake  using  seasonal dried fruit and spices.  The spices represented the exotic  eastern  spices  brought by the  Wise Men.  This cake became known as  "Christmas cake."