Monday 7 November 2011

Firework cupcakes


Look at the yummy firework cupcakes I helped my hooman sister make this weekend.  


Look at the pretty colour explosion inside hee he

Phew, that was so exhausting baking all those cakes.  I'm just going to rest up here for a while zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

For all my friends who aren't familiar with Guy Fawkes and Bonfire night, here's a brief history of why the hoomans set the whizz bangs off.

November 5th is known as "Bonfire Night" or "Guy Fawkes Night", and all over Britain people fire off fireworks, light bonfires, and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes. Guido Fawkes was an Englishman who, in popular legend, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. He was caught, imprisoned, tortured on the rack, and finally executed, as we'll see.

400 years ago, Guy Fawkes was a co-conspirator in the "Gunpowder Plot" of 1605 in England. He and his cohorts decided to blow up the both Houses of Parliament in Londonand kill King James I upon the inaugural opening of the Parliament, and succeeded in smuggling several barrels of gunpowder into the basement of the Parliament.

This "Gunpowder Plot" occurred two years after King James I (of the "King James Bible" fame) ascended to the throne.  A group of English Catholics, of which Guido Fawkes was a member, decided to kill the King because it was felt he had reneged on his promises to stop the persecution of Catholics. To this day, it is the law inBritain that a Roman Catholic cannot hold the office of monarch. And the Queen is still Supreme Head of the Church of England.

The plot was foiled at the eleventh hour; some of the plotters escaped, some turned King's Evidence and reported on the rest. The unlucky Fawkes was taken in chains to the Tower of London. He was hanged, drawn and quartered. After Guy was hanged, he was torn asunder and drug through the streets of London behind a horse cart. The charge was treason, though some people in England prefer to remember Guy as "the only man ever to enter Parliament with honourable intentions."

To this day, one of the ceremonies that accompany the opening of a new session of parliament, is the searching of the basement, by a bunch of men in funny hats. Parliament somehow made political capital out of the close call, and poor Guy Fawkes is burned in effigy every November 5th on bonfires all over Britain. They sell a lot of fireworks too, and children beg for money on the streets to buy them. The children usually exhibit the "guy" or dummy that will be put on the fire. "Penny for the guy, mister?" is a common refrain at this time of year.

In the last dozen years or so however, with the pervasiveness of American television and culture in England, the custom of celebrating Halloween is in the ascendancy, and many children are now going for the double treat: candy on October 31, money for November 5.


18 comments:

Mr Puddy said...

Miss Jasmine, You roll like a special cupcake ; )
Sweet Dream
xox

amanda said...

now arent you a sweet little girl, Jasmine, to be helping your humans to make cupcakes..purrs, Rio from Barcelona

Unknown said...

Did those cupcakes taste as good as they look?
Lovies, Miss Mindy

My Mind's Eye said...

Hi Princess J...those are some seriously delicious looking cupcakes!! Any celebration involving cupcakes is a good one.
Mom and I thank you for the explanation of Nov. 5
Hugs Madi

Fuzzy Tales said...

Jasmine, those cupcakes look delicious! Our mom, in particular, would love to sample them. :-)

Christine and FAZ said...

Cupcakes yummy. We had a grand Guy Fawkes night in Hastings although our big Bonfire party was a few weeks ago so it didn't clash with the Lewes one. FAZ

Scooter said...

Hey PJ!
Wow, what colorful cupcakes! I bet they taste totally yummy and I also bet they turn your tongue fun colors! BOL. Did you get to try that?!?
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, COP

Angel Prancer Pie said...

Great post! We didn't know all that. But Mommy will use any excuse fur a great cupcake like yours! MOL!

Unknown said...

We thinks Guy Fawks Day is a pretty good holiday! And the cupcakes is PAWSOME!!
Kisses
Nellie

Katnip Lounge said...

Yummy, cupcakes! I love bakery products...fireworks, not so much.
Jasmine, you are so pretty curled up, enjoy your nap.
xx The Baby, aka "Carbo Cat"

meowmeowmans said...

Those cupcakes are cool! And they look nommy!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day, friends!

The Army of Four said...

Those look incredible! Did you get to try the icing or anything?
Luv,
Dave

Photo Cache said...

Princess Jasmine, could you fedex some of that delicious hooman fud to my mama?

You deserve a whole day's nap after that labor.

Emma and Buster

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

Jasmine
Those were some beautiful cupcakes, we bet they were really nommy. After all that work, we say nap too. Good for you.
purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

those cupcakes look soooooooooooo cool!!!! I bet they were delicious too!

Thanks for the history of Guy Fawkes day as well!

The Island Cats said...

Those cupcakes look yummy!

Chloe and Cecil said...

The cupcakes look yummy! Thanks for explaining your holiday.

The Adventures of Scarlett and Melly said...

Awesome cupcakes! Your human is so creative.