Simnel Cake

Spring is obviously on hold, which currently means a couple of things: firstly, my shoes have been given a serious polish, and secondly, I can legitimately continue to eat vast quantities of cake without feeling guilty.

Last weekend I swapped gardening for baking, which proved to be much funner, much warmer, and a lot more rewarding.  Since recently foxes have had one of my chickens, slug or pigeons have made short work of every single one of my purple sprouting plants, and the relentless cold is making my rhubarb all sad and bendy, I am feeling a little anti-nature.  I abandoned the garden and made a Simnel cake instead, which is deliciously rich and moist, fruity and almondy, and just the thing to accompany several cups of tea and a good novel by the radiator.

Simnel cake is traditionally eaten around Easter.  In Medieval times it was eaten on the middle Sunday of Lent as a relaxation of the forty days fast and more recently young girls in service would take one home on their day off for Mothering Sunday.  You could decorate this in the Medieval way with crystallised flowers, or the more common way with 11 marzipan balls to represent the 12 Apostles minus Judas.  This version has a rather cheeky twist...

Simnel Cake

1lb/400g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, chopped peel)

6oz/150g sultanas

Grated zest 1 orange

5tbsp Cointreau/ orange liqueur

7oz/175g butter

7oz/175g caster sugar

4 pieces stem ginger in syrup

3 eggs

9oz/225g plain flour

1tsp ground nutmeg

2tsp mixed spice

1lb/500g marzipan

Place the fruit in a bowl with the orange zest and Cointreau and leave for an hour.  Grease and line an 18cm round cake tin.  Beat butter until pale, then beat in sugar and grated ginger until fluffy.

 Beat in the eggs with a large tablespoon of flour, then carefully stir in the flour, fruit and spices.

Cut a quarter off the marzipan and set aside, wrapped or covered.  Divide the remaining lump into two and roll one half out to a circle slightly smaller then the tin.  Place half the mixture in the cake tin, cover with the marzipan circle and top with the rest of the cake mixture.

Bake for 2.25 - 2.5 hours, until a skewer stuck through the centre comes out clean.  Leave to cool in the tin until lukewarm, then remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.

Roll out the large lump of marzipan into a circle the same size or slightly larger then the cake, brush with a splash of hot water mixed with either a little apricot jam, marmalade or some of the syrup from the ginger, and stick on top of the cake.  Form 11 balls with the last bit of marzipan and stick to the top with a little more of the jam mix. Place under a very hot grill for a few minutes until the top turns golden brown.

  Keep in an airtight tin and try not too eat too quickly!