Celebration Simnel Cake
Simnel cake is a celebration fruitcake widely eaten in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries who enjoy the unique time of Lent and Easter. It is distinguished from other rich fruit cakes by the layers of marzipan, typically placed in the middle and on the top of the cake. Many like to make their own marzipan but for ease it is perfectly acceptable to buy commercially prepared marzipan and of course use decorative Easter eggs made of chocolate.
10 slices
20 minutes & overnight soak
2-2½ hours
150˚C
Ingredients
-
Soak Fruit
-
350g mixed dried fruits
-
2 lemons- juice and zest
-
50ml orange juice- fresh or carton
-
Cake
-
225g butter- softened
-
200g light Muscovado sugar
-
4 medium eggs
-
225g self-raising flour- sifted
-
2 tsp mixed spice
-
Traditional Decoration
-
500g marzipan- 170g for centre circle & 330g for top
-
Honey
-
11 mini chocolate eggs
Instructions
-
Soak dried fruit:
-
01 Put the sultanas, currants and mixed peel in a bowl with the lemon juice, orange juice, and brandy, if using. Mix well, cover and leave to soak overnight.
-
Prepare cake tin:
-
02 Line the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin with baking parchment.
-
Make cake:
-
03 Cream together the softened butter and sugar. Fold in all the remaining cake ingredients with the soaked fruit and stir until well combined.
-
Roll out marzipan:
-
04 Take a large piece of cling film enough to be folded in half and place a third of the marzipan (approximately 170g) into the centre of one side. Fold over the remaining cling film and roll into a circle 20cm diameter (see image #2). Set to one side, to use later when assembling the raw, uncooked cake. Please always remember to REMOVE the cling film. This must not be baked.
-
Assemble cake:
-
05 Spoon half of the cake mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake tin and level it off so it's as flat as possible. Now add the rolled circle of marzipan with the cling film removed and place in the centre of the cake tin, on top of mixture. See image # 3. Gently add the rest of the mixture, levelling the surface again. Image #4. Finally top with a circle of non stick baking paper with a small piece removed from the centre - see image #5
-
Bake cake:
-
06 Place in the oven for approximately 2½ hours until brown, well-risen and firm to the touch. A metal skewer should come out clean when inserted. Allow cooling in the tin.
-
Decorate:
-
07 Warm the honey in a small saucepan and brush on the top of the cake. Roll out half of the remaining marzipan to the size of the top of the cake. Press it down firmly and push the edges down with your thumb to crimp it round the sides. Finally place the whole cake under a hot grill until the marzipan turns a light golden colour. Remove and allow to go cold before adding any Easter decorations.
-
Traditional Easter decorations:
-
08 Simnel cakes should have 11 marzipan balls to represent the Apostles placed on the top, however, for this cake I used 11 small commercially purchased chocolate eggs - see the cover image.
Notes
if you find the cake is cooking too quickly, reduce the heat to 120˚C for the final 30 minutes. I recommend to roll the marzipan between two layers of cling film as this prevents sticking and aids rolling without adding any additional icing sugar.
