Dear Judy,
You may well be right in the assumption that Simnel cake derives from the Latin simila. I prefer my Father’s plausible view, which was at least a good Sunday School story, that it came from more recent times in the days of “Service”, when a Brother and Sister named Simon and Nell were given a weekend off to visit their mother on Mothering Sunday. They agreed that an appropriate gift would be a cake and decided to make half each, placing one section on top of the other and “cementing” them together with almond paste.
The cake was , of course, called Simnel cake!!
My Mother always made a Simnel cake with marzipan in the middle and on top. This was passed to all the Children to take home to their Mothers.
Mothering Sunday services were always very well attended!!
Simnel Cake
Paul Daybell