Simnel Cake
So here we are, pinch, punch, first of the month.
Who'd have thought the first two months of the year would have gone so fast?
In the Allison household, we are preparing for Easter in the only way we know how, by baking. And what better way to prepare than by making the traditional simnel cake...it's like Christmas all over again, which lets face it, we all would love to have again.
Simnel cake is a lighter version of the Christmas fruit cake, with two layers of almond paste or marzipan, one in the centre of the sponge and one on top which is then toasted to leave the marzipan golden brown. In the UK, Ireland and some other European Countries, it is traditionally eaten around the Easter period, and in the medieval period it was often given to mothers as a gift on mothering Sunday. Traditionally, eleven marzipan balls are used to decorate the cake, which represent the twelve apostles, minus Judas. This tradition developed late in the Victorian era, altering the mid Victorian tradition of decorating the cakes with preserved fruits and flowers.
Ingredients:
12oz Butter
12oz Brown Sugar
12oz Plain Flour
1.5oz Self Raising Flour
6 Eggs
1.75oz Currants
2oz Ground Almonds
1kg pack Marzipan
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
Beat together the butter and sugar, and mix in the eggs one at a time, adding a little flour with each one. Give the mix a good beat.
Fold in the rest of the flour and the ground almonds.
Finally beat in the currants (simple!).
Next, line your tin with greaseproof paper, and pour half of the cake batter. Then roll out a circle of marzipan the same size as your cake tin and pop it on top of the cake batter, or alternatively, simply roll and flatten smaller balls of marzipan and put these in the centre, the choice is yours. Then simply add the rest of your cake batter to the tin and smooth out the top.
The next step is probably the trickiest-you need to wrap either brown parchment paper or cardboard around the outside of the tin, and secure it with masking tape (paper) or string (cardboard). This will prevent the cake from burning around the edges before it cooks in the middle.
Pop it in the oven for 2 hours, and check regularly (approx. every 10 minutes) until the cake is cooked. You'll know its fully baked through when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Once your cake is fully baked, pop it to one side to cool completely.
Who'd have thought the first two months of the year would have gone so fast?
In the Allison household, we are preparing for Easter in the only way we know how, by baking. And what better way to prepare than by making the traditional simnel cake...it's like Christmas all over again, which lets face it, we all would love to have again.
Simnel cake is a lighter version of the Christmas fruit cake, with two layers of almond paste or marzipan, one in the centre of the sponge and one on top which is then toasted to leave the marzipan golden brown. In the UK, Ireland and some other European Countries, it is traditionally eaten around the Easter period, and in the medieval period it was often given to mothers as a gift on mothering Sunday. Traditionally, eleven marzipan balls are used to decorate the cake, which represent the twelve apostles, minus Judas. This tradition developed late in the Victorian era, altering the mid Victorian tradition of decorating the cakes with preserved fruits and flowers.
Ingredients:
12oz Butter
12oz Brown Sugar
12oz Plain Flour
1.5oz Self Raising Flour
6 Eggs
1.75oz Currants
2oz Ground Almonds
1kg pack Marzipan
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
Beat together the butter and sugar, and mix in the eggs one at a time, adding a little flour with each one. Give the mix a good beat.
Fold in the rest of the flour and the ground almonds.
Finally beat in the currants (simple!).
Next, line your tin with greaseproof paper, and pour half of the cake batter. Then roll out a circle of marzipan the same size as your cake tin and pop it on top of the cake batter, or alternatively, simply roll and flatten smaller balls of marzipan and put these in the centre, the choice is yours. Then simply add the rest of your cake batter to the tin and smooth out the top.
The next step is probably the trickiest-you need to wrap either brown parchment paper or cardboard around the outside of the tin, and secure it with masking tape (paper) or string (cardboard). This will prevent the cake from burning around the edges before it cooks in the middle.
Pop it in the oven for 2 hours, and check regularly (approx. every 10 minutes) until the cake is cooked. You'll know its fully baked through when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Once your cake is fully baked, pop it to one side to cool completely.
Once your cake is fully cooled, its time to decorate it. Firstly remove the sponge from the tin if you haven't done already, and either place it on a plate or on a cake board. It's easier to do this now than risking ruining the decoration on your cake later.
Roll out a layer of marzipan about half a cm thick to the same size of your cake. With some honey or apricot jam, brush the top of the sponge with a thin layer and then pop the marzipan round on top. The simply roll 11 balls of marzipan to go on the top in a circle, which will represent your disciples.
The next step is to pop the cake back in the oven for approximately 5-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on it, until the marzipan is golden brown. And voila! You're all done! It's pretty simple!
Let me know how you guys get on!
Charley x
Comments
Post a Comment