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Simnel Cake
The Easter fruit cake with a marzipan heart and eleven marzipan apostles on top — served since medieval Mothering Sunday.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 105 min
- Total
- 145 min
- Yield
- Serves 12
- Difficulty
- Involved
- Era
- Medieval / Easter
Ingredients
- 175g butter; 175g soft brown sugar; 3 eggs
- 175g plain flour; ½ tsp each cinnamon and mixed spice
- 500g mixed dried fruit; zest of 1 lemon; 2 tbsp brandy or milk
- 500g marzipan, divided; 1 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
Method
Oven150°C300°FFan 130°CGas 2
- Cream the butter and sugar; beat in the eggs; fold in the flour, spices, fruit and zest.
- Line a deep 18cm tin. Add half the batter.
- Roll a third of the marzipan into an 18cm disc and lay it in the middle. Add the remaining batter.
- Bake at 150°C / 300°F (fan 130°C, gas 2) for 1 hour 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool.
- Top with another marzipan disc, crimp the edges, and ball the rest into 11 apostles.
- Brush with egg and grill or torch briefly to toast the marzipan. Serve at Easter with tea.
Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.