Christmas cracker tradition of wearing festive hats is believed to date back to Roman times and the Saturnalia celebrations, which also involved decorative headgear. Christmas crackers are also associated with Knut's parties, held in Sweden at the end of the Christmas season. The "Oxford English Dictionary" records the use of "cracker bonbons" and the pulling of "crackers" from 1847. Tradition tells of how Tom Smith of London invented crackers in 1847. He created the crackers as a development of his bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper). As sales of bon-bons slumped, Smith
St. Honoré cake pâte à choux. This base is traditionally filled with crème chiboust and finished with whipped cream using a special St. Honoré piping tip. St. Honoré cake The St. Honoré cake, also known as St. Honoratus cake, is a pastry named for the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, Saint Honoré or Honoratus (d. 600 AD), Bishop of Amiens. It was invented in 1847 at the Chiboust bakery on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. This classic French dessert is a circle of puff pastry at its base with a ring of pâte à choux piped on the outer edge. After