Madron 2024

Last weekend (Sunday 22nd September) it was Madron, also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and this year I made a gingerbread traybake. The recipe is from The Baking Explorer: https://thebakingexplorer.com/gingerbread-traybake/

When I've baked gingerbread cakes or muffins in the past, I've often made a cream cheese frosting (one of my favourites is from the James Martin white chocolate Easter cake I've made several times). But this time I made the buttercream icing that goes with the recipe. It's a simple one made out of butter, icing sugar, ground ginger and vanilla extract.

The traybake itself was quite nice. Here's a picture:

Pic taken before I cut it!

 

I forgot to cut it before taking the picture, but never mind, lol. I sliced it into squares afterwards. The recipe also includes mini gingerbread men that you make to go on top, or you can buy your own. I just decided to make the cake but gingerbread biscuits do fit the Madron theme nicely. 

I normally bake gingerbread for Lammas and Samhain, although I did make some for Madron as well. In 2014 I baked a gingerbread cake instead and since then I usually bake some kind of ginger cake (last year it was gingerbread muffins). If I make this recipe again, I might make the gingerbread men as well. Or I could buy some but I find that shop bought aren't as nice.  

I also baked some Irish soda bread, using the same recipe as last Madron. It's from Jo's Kitchen Larder: https://www.joskitchenlarder.com/irish-soda-bread/

I find that soda bread is good to make if you want to do something more from scratch rather than a bread mix, but if you don't want to/don't have a time for a "regular"" bread recipe. I was quite pleased with it again, as with last year's. It got slightly burnt but still tasted nice!

I had some after I'd baked it and some more with my lunch the next day, along with cheese, pickled gherkins (leftover from when I'd got them for a recipe) and crisps. Here's a pic of the bread: 

 

I often have ginger beer to drink but I didn't get round to it this year. Think I'll just have some anyway soon, lol.

I'd planned to go to the park for sunset on Madron but the weather wasn't very good, so I went the next day instead. There still wasn't that much of a sunset but it was better than the previous day. Here's a photo: 

Bit of a sunset in Hove Park.

 

As I wrote in my recent Easing into Autumn post, it's really been feeling like autumn lately! I've started wearing slippers and more layers, lol. The weather has been colder, sometimes 14C (57F) during the day and even down to 4C (39F) at night. Other times it's been more around 18-20C (around 64 to 68F), which I think is more average for this time of year.  

The days will continue to get shorter now (at a slightly faster rate than before the Autumn Equinox, ) until Yule/the Winter Solstice in December.

I've been going to the park for sabbats during the summer months, as it's easier for me to get to at the moment, rather than my favourite nature reserve on a hill. (I last went there in March for Oestara.) I'm also not doing regular park walks currently but going when I can. Hove Park is one of my favourites  but a bit more difficult to get to by bus for me than some other parks. 

The next festival will be Samhain (also Hallowe'en) which is my favourite, along with Lammas! I might go to the park again around then. I'll do a post about my celebrations. I'm also planning to write my summer-autumn update soon.

Hope you had a good Madron and Happy Autumn! (Or hope you had a good Oestara/Ostara and Happy Spring!) :)