The History Of Christmas

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Christians worldwide celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is estimated there are over two billion Christians worldwide. In many countries the event itself is marked on Christmas Day, 25 December, which is also a public holiday. However, there is a wide variety of tradition and observance and for many Christmas is part of a broader cycle which begins with the four weeks of Advent, continues through the twelve days of Christmas and ends on Epiphany. In the eastern orthodox churches, Christmas Day is often known as the Feast of the Nativity and is celebrated in January coinciding with Epiphany.

The Christmas we know today is also built on many other traditions of mid winter celebration. Christmas brings family and friends together to share much loved customs and traditions, which have been around for centuries.

Did you know?
The first Christmas card was sent in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, a wealthy businessman who wanted a card he could proudly send to friends and acquaintances to wish them a 'Merry Christmas'.

Thomas Smith invented the Christmas cracker in 1846. Originally the idea was to include a bon-bon but this was replaced by a gift and the paper hat was included in the early 1900s. Love poems were replaced by jokes by the end of the 1930s.

Boxing day comes from a custom started in the Middle Ages when churches would open their 'alms box' (boxes in which people had placed gifts of money) and distribute contents to the poor people in the neighbourhood on the day after Christmas.

Father Christmas has become the human face of Christmas. He is based on a real person, St. Nicholas which explains the name of Santa Clause from the Dutch 'Sinterklaas'. Nicholas was a Christian leader from Myra (modern day Turkey) in the 4th century AD. He wanted to give money to poor people without them knowing about it.

This is how a few countries across the world celebrate Christmas:

Brazil
For those who have enough money, a special Christmas meal will be chicken, turkey, ham, rice, salad, pork, fresh and dried fruits, often with beer. Poorer people will have chicken, rice and beans and will also drink beer and coke. For dessert people enjoy some Brazilian sweets Brigadeiro made of condensed milk and chocolate.

Germany
Germans have an 'Adventskranz' - a wreath of leaves with four candles. (Advent - meaning 'coming' - is the 4-week period before Christmas). On each Sunday of Advent, another candle is lit.

Hungary
On 24 December, older children attend the midnight mass with their parents. (During communism, children had to hide at the back of the church. Teachers could have lost their jobs for attending the mass. Later (in mid 1970s) most of the Communist Party leaders of the town attended it too.)

Russia
Christmas can be celebrated - either on 25 December or more often on 7 January. This unusual date is because the Russian Orthodox Church uses the old 'Julian' calendar for religious celebration days. Special Christmas food includes cakes, pies and 'meat dumplings'.

Cuba
43% of people in Cuba are Christian. In 1969 Fidel Castro removed Christmas from the Cuban calendar as it interfered with the sugar harvest. However, in 1997 he restored the holiday and Cubans now celebrate Christmas with fresh enthusiasm and revelry.

Sweden
The most important day is Christmas Eve. A special Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve - ham (pork), herring fish, and brown beans - and this is the time when families give presents to each other. Many people attend a church meeting early on Christmas Day.

India
India is a secular nation and houses every community. Christians are a minority here and form nearly 2.3% of the population. But the fact that there are only about 25 million Christians in India, in no way lessens the observance of the festival. Moreover, the occasion is celebrated not only by Christians but by people of other religions as well.

India being a multicultural nation, many different languages are spoken here. In Hindi and Urdu, Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Bade Din ki Mubarak'; in Sanskrit it is 'Krismasasya shubhkaamnaa'; in Bengali 'Barodiner shubhechha janai'; and in Tamil it's 'Christhu Jayanthi Nalvaalthukal'.

China
Although Christianity is unofficial in China, there are an estimated 10 million baptised Christians (about one percent of the population) who celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas time. The popularity of midnight mass has grown so swiftly over the past few years that most Catholic churches cannot hold the numbers who come out Christmas Eve.

Poland
In Poland, Christmas is officially known as Bozz Narodzenie, though it is most often referred to as Gwiazdka, meaning, and 'little star'. Christmas Eve in Poland is a time of family gathering and reconciliation.

An elaborate Polish Christmas tradition is 'Wigilia', a strict 24-hour fast that begins on Christmas Eve and ends with a huge Christmas feast. In honour of the star of Bethlehem, the meal cannot begin until the first star of night appears.

Hmmn!! Christmas and CAKE!

Show off your festive baking and make a centrepiece out of this classic Christmas cake.

This recipe is classed as easy

Prep time: 1 hr
Cook time: 3 hrs
Serves: one round 20 cm cake, or one 18cm square cake.
Weight when cooked: 2.2kg



Ingredients:
450g currants
200g sultanas
200g raisins
150g glacé cherries, quartered
75g mixed candied peel, chopped
100 g flaked Almonds
50 g ground Almonds
0.5 Lemons, grated rind and juice
1 Oranges, grated rind and juice
1 eating Apples
275g unsalted Butter
275g dark brown sugar, preferably muscovado
5 Eggs, beaten
350g plain flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
0.5 tsp Mixed spice
2 tsp black treacle, optional, to darken the cake
4 tbsp Brandy or Rum Brandy, to soak the cake after it's baked

For the almond paste:
150g icing sugar, sieved
150g caster sugar
300g ground Almonds
3 large egg yolks, beaten
0.25 tsp almond essence
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rum

For the royal icing:
4 large egg whites
1kg icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp glycerine
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Method
Using double thickness greaseproof paper, line the base and sides of either a 20cm round cake tin or an 18cm square tin. Tie a double band of brown paper around the outside of the tin. The paper helps absorb some of the oven heat and protects the cake from overcooking.

Mix the dried fruit, cherries, candied peel, almonds and ground almonds together. Stir in the lemon and orange rind, juices and grated apple. Leave on one side while you make the cake mixture.

Preheat the oven to 150C/gas mark 1-2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Sieve the flour and spices, and fold in half the flour into the cake mixture.

Stir in half the dried fruit mixture followed by the remaing flour and dried fruit. Stir in enough treacle to darken the cake. The mixture should have a soft dropping consistency. If it looks a bit dry, add a drop of brandy. Spoon into the prepared tin and make an indentation in the centre of the cake. This helps ensure an even rise.

Bake the cake for about 3 hours, until it's firm to the touch. When the cake is pierced with a skewer, it should come out clean. If it looks as if it's getting too brown in the oven, cover the surface of the cake with several layers of greaseproof paper.

Leave to cool in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack. Don't bother taking the greaseproof paper off though.

Pierce the cooled cake with a skewer and drizzle over a spoon of brandy. Do this a couple of times while it is maturing - once a week should be enough depending on how moist you like your cake. If you can, it's a good idea to give the cake around three weeks to mature before covering it with almond paste.

To store:
wrap the cake in several layers of greaseproof paper and keep in an airtight box.

For the almond paste:
Place both the sugars in a mixing bowl with the ground almonds. Lightly beat the egg yolks, almond essence, lemon juice and rum. Add enough of the egg yolk mixture to the almonds and sugar and knead to make a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn onto a surface, which has been dusted with icing sugar, and knead until smooth. If you're not using the paste straight away, keep covered with plastic wrap as it has a tendency to dry out.

To apply marzipan to a round cake:
If the cake isn't very level, turn the cake upside down and marzipan the base instead of the top. The top and sides of the cake are covered separately.

Measure around the circumference of the cake using a piece of string. Brush the top with warmed and sieved apricot jam.

Dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out one-third of the marzipan for the top of the cake. Turn the cake onto the almond paste and trim away excess almond paste with a sharp knife so it fits the exact size of the cake. Turn the cake the right way again and set on a cake board.

Brush the sides of the cake with apricot jam and roll out the remaining almond paste to an oblong, the length of the piece of string. The width should be about the same height as the cake.

Carefully roll-up the almond paste oblong and smooth onto the sides of the cake. Trim with a sharp knife so that the paste fits the shape of the cake.

Leave the cake for about five days so that the almond paste has a chance to dry before covering with royal icing.

To apply marzipan to a square cake
It's best to cover the top of the cake first, followed by the two opposite sides. That way you won't get sticky fingers from handling the sides of a jam-coated cake!

For the royal icing
Lightly whisk the egg whites in a large mixing bowl until they are just beginning to get frothy. Stir in a couple of spoons of icing sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Gradually add the rest of the sugar, beating well between each addition. Stir in the glycerine - this helps stop the icing from setting rock solid.

If you fancy flat icing your cake, keep the icing fairly soft - a wooden spoon should stand upright in the icing and slowly fall to one side. For piping, you should add more icing sugar to make a stiffer icing which will hold its shape.

It's a good idea to make the icing a day before you need it and let it sit in a covered bowl overnight. This way, the air bubbles will rise to the surface and you're more likely to have a smoother finish when it comes to icing the cake.


Applying royal icing
If you'd like to go all the way, try your hand at flat icing your cake. It's easier to apply the icing in two sittings (three, if your cake is square - one stage for the top, the next two stages for icing the two opposite sides.

Place a couple of tablespoons of icing over the top of the cake and spread it evenly with a palette knife to remove any lingering air bubbles. For a really smooth surface, use a ruler (which should be longer than the width of the cake). Hold the ruler at an angle (about 30 degrees), and draw the ruler steadily across the cake without using any pressure. You'll probably need two or three attempts to get it so you're happy with it.

Neaten the edges for a sharp finish and let the icing dry completely for about 12 hours before applying icing to the sides of the cake.

To ice the sides
A cake icing turntable is really handy when icing the sides of a round cake. Spread the sides with royal icing and smooth it with a small palette knife.

Hold the knife at a 45 degree angle and draw the knife around the cake without applying any pressure. Most cook shops sell sugar scrapers and they're ideal for getting a smooth and professional finish and are much easier to use than a palette knife. Leave the icng to dry for about 12 hours.

For top-notch results, give your cake two coats of icing. Add a little more icing sugar to stiffen up left-over icing and use for piped decorations.

If you don't have time to make royal icing, you can always use ready-bought fondant icing.

Left-over marzipan can be coloured and moulded into festive shapes. Let them dry for a day or so before placing on the cake - that way almond oil from the paste won't stain the cake.

If the sides of your cake aren't as smooth as you'd like, buy a broad ribbon and attach it around the Christmas cake. No one will ever know what you're camouflaging!

Seasons Quotes!

"I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year."
- Charles Dickens (from "A Christmas Carol")

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph."
- Shirley Temple

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
- Dr. Seuss (from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas")

"It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself."
- Charles Dickens

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
- Matthew 1:21