Christmas cake
“It’s so comforting to have a small piece of cake. Just one slice”, Mary Berry
But which Christmas cake is worth its weight?
Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a Christmas cake. A traditional Christmas cake is loaded with a combination of raisins, currants, sultanas, cherries, orange zest, and nuts. For those who make their Christmas cake, preparation starts months earlier. Mary Berry recommends, “Making your Christmas cake in September is perfect, as too fresh a cake crumbles when cut.”
However, the Mekon team were busy this autumn attending events including DITA Europe, Tekom, LavaCon, TDW Live, Taxonomy Bootcamp London and Semantics and were unable to make their Christmas cake. If like Mekon you’ve missed the boat for making Christmas cake, Britain’s supermarkets have really stepped up to the Christmas plate this year and have a wide variety of ready-made festive cakes for you.
Our foodie experts tested slices of cake from the supermarkets to find you the best this Christmas, looking for a delicious mix of moist filling, fruitiness, aroma, nuttiness, tasty marzipan and quality of icing – this year’s winner was Marks & Spencer
Cheddar cheese
The term “Cheddar cheese” is used globally, however is originated from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. Cheddar cheese traditionally had to be made within 30 mi (48 km) of Wells Cathedral however it is now made all over the world including Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Finland and the United States.
Cheddar cheese has for a long time been seen as an important – a giant wheel of cheddar cheese was presented to Queen Victoria in England for a wedding gift back in 1840 – it weighed over a whopping 1,000lbs and in 1901, Scott of the Antarctic took 3,500lbs of cheddar on his famous expedition!
With cheddar regularly finding itself on cheese boards the Mekon team put the tasting team to the test to find the best cheddar available this Christmas. This year’s winner was Morrisons, with judges looking at categories which included colour, crumbliness, aroma, aftertaste and overall flavour.
The Mekon team wish you all the best for the festive season and a happy and prosperous 2018.