Simnel Cake

Course Cakes & Pies

Cuisine British, Scottish

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 45

Servings

Calories 329

Author Christina Conte

A traditional British fruit cake with marzipan which was originally made for Mother's Day, but now is more of an Easter cake.

Equipment

1 8" springform pan

Ingredients

6 oz butter good quality, salted
1 cup brown sugar light or dark
3 eggs large, preferably pasture raised
¼ cup Lyle's Golden Syrup or maple syrup
2 cups all purpose flour unbleached, organic
pinch sea salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp mixed spice (easy mixed spice recipe here)
1 ½ cups raisins Golden raisins, currants candied cherries, etc.
¾ cup Zante currants
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup candied cherries (optional)
2 Tbsp candied peel or marmalade (orange)
2 Tbsp milk
14 oz marzipan (2 packages) divided
2 Tbsp apricot jam warmed, and without skin/pieces (strained)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the Cake Batter

Sift flour with baking powder into a large bowl, then add mixed spice and stir.
Place the raisins, currants, golden raisins and candied cherries in a bowl, and toss with one teaspoon of the sifted flour. Set aside.
In a stand mixer or another large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and Golden Syrup until light and fluffy.
Beat the eggs, then add one third to the bowl.
Next, add a third of the sifted flour, mixing well after each addition. Continue with the egg and flour until it has all been added.
Add the dried fruit, candied peel or marmalade and milk. Stir until evenly combined and mixture is not too stiff.
Roll out about half of one package of marzipan (4 oz) and cut an almost 8" diameter circle using the springform pan as a guide.

Bake the Simnel Cake

Put half the batter into the prepared cake tin, make it even, and place the circle of marzipan on top. Next, spoon the rest of the batter into the pan and bake in the oven at 350º F / 175º C for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 300º F / 150º C for an additional 2 hours, or until a skewer comes out clean and cake is evenly browned.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a rack before removing the pan sides and bottom.

Decorate the Cake

If your cake is smooth on top, turn it upside down and place onto the serving plate. Otherwise, trim the top of the cake with a bread knife to make it flat, then turn upside down onto a plate.
Roll about 6 oz of marzipan into a circle just larger than 8" in diameter for the top of the cake. Brush the top of the cake with some warmed apricot jam, then place the marzipan round on top. Flute the edges to decorate, or make a small ruffle pattern.
Using a kitchen torch, brown the marzipan slightly, just to give it some color.
Make 11 small balls using the remaining marzipan (try to make them the same size; they should be about 10 g each.) Place them on top of the cake, evenly spaced, then torch these as well.
Your Simnel cake is ready to serve! It will keep for weeks if kept in a sealed tin in a cool place.

Serve the Cake

To serve a fruit cake, slice it in half, straight down the center, then make another cut (as thick as you'd like the slices.) When one long piece is cut, cut it into 3 or 4 slices, and serve with hot tea or coffee.

Notes

If you have your own eggs, or trust your supplier, you can make your own marzipan. Otherwise, I suggest buying it for safety's sake, since the egg whites are not cooked. I have a recipe to make homemade marzipan in my semla post.
Feel free to change the amounts of the dried fruit as long as there's about 1 lb in total.
Substitute small, colorful, chocolate Easter eggs in place of the marzipan balls if you are making the cake for children, or prefer chocolate.

Nutrition

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