Simnel Cake
By Ocado
Published on 27 February 2023
The simnel cake is one of the most traditional of Easter cakes. It’s made with an abundance of dried fruit, sweet and moist cherries, baked into a rich, spiced cake batter and topped with a layer of marzipan and 11 marzipan balls. The sweet topping is believed to represent the 11 apostles – minus Judas. The cake has existed since the Middle Ages, with a number of different varieties of simnel cake found around the UK, until the one from Bury, Lancashire, became the gold standard. In some old recipes, the cake was boiled (like the Scottish clootie dumpling). This traditional recipe is a perfect historical showstopper to make on Easter or Mothering Sunday.Time and servings
2 hrs 15 minsTotal time
11Servings
20 minsPrep time
1 hr 55 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 200 g of unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g of light brown sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 orange, zested
- 250 g of plain flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp of ground ginger
- 1 ground nutmeg
- 600 g of mixed dried fruit
- 150 g of glace cherries, roughly chopped
- 1.5 kg of golden marzipan
- 2 tsp of apricot jam, melted in the microwave
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3. Whisk the butter and sugar in a stand-mixer on a high speed for 2 to 3 mins until light and fluffy. Gradually add 4 eggs, one by one, and whisk again on a high speed for a further 2 mins. Bring the mixer down to a medium speed and add the orange and lemon zest.Step 2
Add the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and ¼ tsp nutmeg and change the mixer attachment to a paddle and mix on a medium speed.Step 3
Add the mixed dried fruit and glacé cherries and mix again until fully incorporated.Step 4
Butter and line a springform baking tin with greased baking paper and empty in half the cake batter and spread out with a rubber spatula.Step 5
Dust a surface with icing sugar, then roll out 500g of marzipan to the thickness of 1cm.Using the base of your springform tin as a size guide, cut out a circle of marzipan and lay it over the top layer of the cake batter carefully. Add the remaining cake mixture on top and smooth out until even and firm. Give the tin a couple of slams on the work surface to even the batter out further, and then bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hr, 45 mins. The cake should have risen and will be firm on top.Step 6
Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool entirely on a wire rack before springing the tin open. On an icing sugar-dusted surface, roll out another 500g of golden marzipan to a thickness of 0.5cm and cut another circle of marzipan out using the baking tin as a guide.Step 7
Brush the top of the cake with melted apricot jam and carefully and evenly place the marzipan over the top of the fruit cake. Now crimp the edges with your fingers. Divide the leftover marzipan into 11 equal sized portions, then roll into balls (about three quarters the size of a golf ball). Brush a bit of apricot jam underneath each marzipan ball and place evenly around the edge of the cake. Beat a single egg and brush over all of the marzipan, and then place under the grill on high with the door open for 2 mins until the marzipan begins to caramelize and become golden brown. Be sure to monitor this, so you don’t burn the marzipan.Step 8
Remove from the grill and serve. Keep in a sealed tin.