The Twelve Cakes of Christmas: An evolutionary history, with recipes [Hardcover]

Many popular recipes come from lineages that can be traced back for decades, even centuries. Festive cakes have been made in December for at least two thousand years. Using archaeological evidence and ancient books, the authors define the key ingredients of the cakes that would eventually be served on Twelfth Night, at the end of the Christmas season. From 17th century English cookbooks, they identify recipes that would have been made as twelfth cakes, full of expensive ingredients like raisins, almonds, sweet wine and candied peel, but made like fruit-breads, with yeast.Helen Leach is an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Otago. Her research interests include the evolution of human diet and prehistoric horticulture. Her book, The Pavlova Story, was shortlisted in the Montana NZ Book Awards 2009. Mary Browne is a leading food writer who updated and photographed twelve classic pavlova recipes for The Pavlova Story. Raelene Inglis is a researcher in food history. Her earlier investigations into Christmas cakes with Helen created the database from which this book has grown.