NATIONAL PUNCH DAY

While one perspective suggests honoring tools used to make holes, another points to a day created to throw a few punches at a punching bag. However, we will direct you toward the thirst-quenching version instead. Besides, this delicious, refreshing drink sparkles with celebration.
A wide assortment of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, fall into the category of punch.

A combination of fruit juice and a carbonated beverage, the colorful, bubbly drink sparkles with party personality. In fact, parties, weddings, and other celebrations serve punch as part of the centerpiece at the beverage table. Large wide bowls known as punch bowls provide a beautiful vessel for serving punch.

The word punch is a loanword from Hindi panch (meaning five). Originally, punch was made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. It was called paantsch.


Soft drink manufacturers today distribute many types of “fruit punch” beverages. Most punch mixes are red in color. However, despite the name, they contain a small fraction of fruit juice. Sugar, corn syrup, citric acid, and artificial flavors make up the main ingredients.

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HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL PUNCH DAY

Make some punch and make a toast! Thousands of punch recipes make the beverage versatile and easy to make. Check recipe books and online. Be sure to share your favorites, too! Use #NationalPunchDay to post on social media. 

NATIONAL SPONGE CAKE DAY

On August 23rd, enjoy National Sponge Cake Day with the quintessential classic of the cake world. This airy queen of teas is the guest of honor, but we get the pleasure of tasting! 

One of the trickiest cakes for bakers to master, a perfect sponge stands tall. Another balancing trick for bakers includes maintaining a fine crumb while keeping the cake moist. If you enjoy layering berries and whipped cream, the sponge handles this task beautifully. 

The sponge cake is believed to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes. 

The sponge cake is thought to have originated in the Caribbean. However, the earliest English printed recipe for sponge cake comes from an English poet and author, Gervase Markham. In 1615 he published a sponge cake recipe in the book The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman.

I can’t knit or make plum jam, but I can bake a bloody Victoria sponge. ~ Helen Mirren as Chris in Calendar Girls (2003)

In 2003, the sponge cake played a tiny role in the movie Calendar Girls starring Helen Mirren. In the scene, Mirren’s character, Chris, enters a baking competition. However, she forgets she entered, and instead of entering a sponge cake of her own making, she submits a store-bought Victoria sponge cake.

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HOW TO OBSERVE #SpongeCakeDay

Be sure to find more of your favorite cakes here.

Get some sponge cake and enjoy it. Or, if you are up to the challenge, try this Glorious Sponge Cake recipe. Serve it with berries or a preserve. Use #SpongeCakeDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL ICE CREAM CAKE DAY

National Ice Cream Cake Day is observed annually on June 27. In the height of summer, an ice cream cake is the perfect dessert.

An ice cream cake consists of any flavor of ice cream in the shape of a cake.  It can include many different ingredients such as cake, cookie crumbs, sponge cake, fudge, fruit or caramel between the layers of ice cream.  It is then frosted with either whipped cream or a similar icing.  Ice cream cakes are kept frozen until served.  They are typically decorated and served at a wide variety of parties.

Although the origin of the ice cream cake remains somewhat of a mystery, this popular dessert combines the classic summer treat, ice cream, with the time-honored celebratory cake, which makes it one of the best culinary inventions to date.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Order an ice cream cake from your favorite bakery or make your own to share with friends.  Use #nationalicecreamcakeday to share your photos on social media.

National Iced Tea Month

As the temperature heats up in June, it’s a perfect time to celebrate National Iced Tea Month!

Iced Tea Day is June 10! Try incorporating some fresh fruits or vegetables since it’s thier Month too. Besides iced tea goes well with any kind of salad.

Brewing the ideal pitcher of iced tea is a matter of taste. Mine is the Tetley Brand. Lots of restaurants brew Lipton. Depending on your taste, you may prefer sun tea, sweet tea or unsweetened tea. Perhaps your palate leans more toward a fruitier tea or a stronger type of tea. As long as it’s iced, June is the month your tea is celebrated.

Iced tea was made as early as the 1870s, but an English merchant by the name of Richard Belchynden brought the beverage to popularity. During the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis temperatures began to soar. Belchynden crossed the Atlantic to sell black tea steeped hot and served to the American public. Under the conditions, fairgoers were interested in cooler beverages. Belchynden needed to switch strategies, or he would have no sales. By brewing a stronger tea and pouring it over ice, the merchant created a new product to sell.

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HOW TO OBSERVE

Pour yourself a glass of iced tea and enjoy! What is your favorite way to enjoy it? Kicking back on the porch or with a good friend? Use #NationalIcedTeaMonth to let us know on social media.

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NATIONAL DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE DAY

Observed annually on May 19, National Devil’s Food Cake Day is enjoyed by chocolate cake lovers throughout the country and around the world.

Devil’s Food cake is a heavenly chocolate cake.  It differs from a regular chocolate cake by its darker color and tends to be more moist and airy.  Devil’s Food cake recipes use hot or boiling water as the primary liquid. Cocoa is typically utilized in the batter, as opposed to chocolate, and coffee can be added for a distinctive flavor.  A delicious chocolate frosting usually accompanies the cake.

Recipes for Devil’s Food cakes often appeared alongside recipes for Angel Food cakes.  One of the earliest recipes appeared in the August 10, 1898, edition of the Hagerstown Exponent of Hagerstown, Indiana.

The once Queen of France said, “Let them eat cake“, I cant think of a better idea in today’s world.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Mix up this irresistible Devil’s Food Cake I recipe. Use #DevilsFoodCakeDay to post on social media.