Pontefract Cakes, tell me more!

Pontefract cakes have been very popular already this morning in the shop, so it made us think about where it all started? Whats behind these little Yorkshire liquorice treats?

 

Its all in a name really, they started in Pontefract of Yorkshire, and are also reffered to as 'Pomfrey cakes' or 'Pomfret cakes'. Traditionally they were called 'Pomfret' cakes, because this was the old Norman name for Pontefract itself, but over time the name changed and became what we now know them as!

 

Originally, the sweets were embossed by hand with a stamp, by workers who were known as 'cakers' (They were able to produce upwards of 30,000 Pontefract cakes per day!!), but now they are usually machinery formed. With the demand for the cakes we can imagine it makes things a little bit easier...and a little bit quicker!

 

 

The stamp was originally a stylised image of Pontefract Castle. When the first secret ballot in the Northern Hemisphere was held in Pontefract on 15th August 1872, the ballot box used was sealed using a Pontefract cake stamp from Frank Dunhill’s factory, which shows the image of a castle and an owl!

Its amazing what fun facts and interesting information there are on sweets, stay 'chew'ned for more sweet treats and exciting reads! x