Twelfth Cake, 2026

Camera deleted the pre-party picture, alas.

Repeating the 1857 Godey's Twelfth Cake recipe, because I like it. This year's attempt at a more accurate cake was in the icing: instead of a buttercream, I opted for the more appropriate royal icing. It was still a bit of a departure from original practice, in that I used meringue powder to avoid serving raw eggs, but that's a line I'm comfortable with holding. As with last year, I managed to find candied citron in the appropriate quantity, but also somehow (again) had exactly 10oz instead of 16oz of currants on hand. I did have about 1/4 oz of actual dried currants (red, white, and black) to use, but the rest were zante currants as usual. I did forget to add the small amount of brandy called for in the recipe, but that doesn't seem to have affected the flavor, as I feared it would.

At any rate, it tastes fine (especially with tea), and doesn't quickly go stale.

For next year, I'd like to work on presentation. I always forget how much this batter does not smooth out on its own while baking, so I am making a note to use the proper dough tool and not just try to smooth out the batter with a spoon. I should also use three layers of parchment paper in baking (on all sides), since two wasn't as effective as I'd like, and will hopefully get some more practice with piping the decorations.