Twelfth cake

From the mid-18th century to the end of the 19th century, Twelfth cakes were very popular, but they had been mentioned in poems and other literature more than a century earlier. The cake was traditionally baked on 5 January for the celebration of Revelation or – as the name suggests – the twelfth night after Christmas.

The cake was decadently decorated with elaborate scenes of feasting, with little people and filigree made of a white glaze, which was shaped into intricately carved w