Ideas for Imbolg

 

 

Imbolg (more commonly called Imbolc) is almost here. It's 1st/2nd February, Monday (tomorrow)/Tuesday in 2021. Some people celebrate it from sundown on 1st Feb to sundown on 2nd, although I tend to celebrate on the 2nd. Another name is Candlemas (which is also a Christian festival).

I've previously written some posts with ideas and inspiration for celebrating, which you can find below:

Imbolg Celebration Ideas: : https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/01/imbolg-celebration-ideas.html

Imbolg Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/01/imbolg-inspiration.html

More Imbolg Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.om/2020/01/more-imbolg-inspiration.html

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's nearly Lammas! Check out these posts for inspiration:

Lammas Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/07/lammas-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Lammas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/07/celebrating-lammas.html

July Update + Lammas Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/07/july-update-lammas-inpiration.html

Baking for Lammas + Extra Ideas!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/07/baking-for-lammas-extra-ideas.html

 

Imbolg is the first spring festival on the Wheel of the Year and the first sabbat of the new calendar year. The new year on the Wheel began at either Samhain or Yule, depending on your beliefs. It's a cross-quarter day, in between Yule/the Winter Solstice in December, and Oestara/Ostara aka the Spring Equinox in March. You will more often find it called Imbolc, but I first came across it as Imbolg in Kate West's books The Real Witches' Kitchen and The Real Witches' Handbook. It's also called February Eve, since in some traditions Imbolg is celebrated from 31st Jan to 1st Feb.

Christmas Ginger Poke Cake + November/December Update

I hadn't written my November/December update yet and I was also planning to write about the ginger poke cake I made for Christmas, so I decided to do a double post. (Rather than two weeks apart). Also did that last year). If you just want to read the update, scroll further down. :)

Christmas Ginger Poke Cake

For this Christmas (or Christmas 2020 now!) I decided to make a recipe based on a gingerbread poke cake. It's from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes: http://www.fantasticalsharing.com/2020/12/gingerbread-poke-cake.html

The recipe uses a cake mix which I thought was easier after a stressful year! I called it a "ginger poke cake" because I couldn't find an actual gingerbread cake mix. So, I used Wrights ginger cake mix. 

I hadn't made a poke cake before but I've come across them online. I think they're more popular in America. You make the cake then poke holes in it with a wooden spoon, and pour condensed milk and caramel sauce over the top to soak in. I couldn't find a caramel sauce either, so I just used condensed milk. 

The recipe uses Cool Whip but I don't think we have that in the UK. So, I made a cream cheese icing using a recipe from Nigella Lawson. It goes with her Guinness chocolate cake. (I haven't baked the cake but it looks very nice!). I previously used cream cheese frosting instead of Cool Whip when I made a gingerbread cake for Madron 2015. It was Betty Crocker's ready-made frosting in that case.

I liked the cake, although I do think it could have been a bit nicer, the flavour and texture. Here's a pic: