Lancashire Courting Cake is my latest work all about my love of food. The hand embroidery centres around a delicious strawberry cake recipe and a nostalgic Lancashire tradition started in the early 1920’s.
Lancashire Courting Cake
This cake is a romantic expression of love dating back to the summers of the 1920s. Its backstory is rooted in the north of England and centred around young love, warm summers and an abundance of ripe red strawberries.
As part of a courtship, women would make the cake for their betrothed or for a man they had a crush on as a gesture of love, and also to show off her baking skills.
Prior to their wedding, Prince William and Kate Middleton tasted one on their visit to Lancashire in 2011.
The cake also made an appearance on The Great British Bake Off in 2013.
Hand embroidered with Vintage Sylko thread onto cotton cloth. Size 23 x 11cm
This piece forms part of a body of work celebrating Lancashire food.
Update
This piece of embroidery is part of the One Red Thread 2025 ‘Love is RED’ exhibition in Australia curated by Textile Fest. It’s first stop touring Australia will be at the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair, ICC Sydney Darling Harbour, Australia, June 26 – 29, 2025.
