About Easter
Simnel Cake
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Simnel cake is a
fruit cake, similar to a Christmas cake, covered in marzipan eaten at
Easter in England. On the top of the cake
around the edge are eleven marzipan balls to represent the true apostles
of Jesus; Judas is omitted.
The cake is made from rich ingredients:
white
flour, fragrant
spices,
dried
fruits and peel.
Simnel cakes had been known from mediaeval
times, it was originally a
Mothering Sunday tradition. The word simnel probably derived from the
latin word simila, meaning fine, wheaten flour with which the cakes were
made.
Different towns had their own recipes and shapes of the Simnel cake. Bury,
Devizes and
Shrewsbury
produced large numbers to their own recipes, but it is the Shrewsbury version
that became most popular and well known.
Simnel Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ lbs/ 560g ready made almond paste (***marzipan)
- 1 lb/ 450g dried mixed fruits (currants, raisins,
sultanas, glace cherries)
- 3 oz/80g candied chopped peel
- 8 oz/ 225g all purpose/plain flour
- Pinch salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 6 oz/ 175g butter
- 6 oz /175g fine/caster sugar
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- Milk to mix
- 2 tbsp apricot jam
Preparation:
Heat the oven to 325°F/170°C/Gas 3
- Line a 7 inch cake tin with parchment or greaseproof paper.
- Divide the almond paste into 3 and take one portion and roll it to a
round the size of the cake tin.
- In a large roomy baking bowl mix the mixed dried fruits, peel with
the flour, salt and spices.
- In another large bowl cream the butter with the sugar until light
and fluffy. Add the beaten egg to the butter mixture a little bit at a
time, beating well after each addition - do not try to rush this process
as the mixture could curdle. If it does curdle simply add a tbsp of the
flour and mix again, this should bring the mixture back together.
- Carefully fold in half the flour and half the fruit into the egg and
butter mixture, once incorporated repeat with the remaining flour and
fruit.
- Put half of the cake mixture into the tin, smooth and cover with the
round of almond paste. Put the remaining cake mixture into the tin.
Smooth carefully and bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour.
- Lower the heat to 300°F/150°C/Gas 2 and bake for 3 hours until the
cake is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
- Roll another third of almond paste, again to the size of the tin.
Make the remaining almond paste equally into 11 tiny balls.
- Once the cake is completely cool, remove from the tin and brush the
top of the cake with apricot jam and cover with the disc of almond
paste. Place the 11 tiny balls of paste evenly around the edge. Brush
the paste all over with a little apricot jam and place under a hot grill
until lightly browned.
- The cake can then be decorated as you wish with tiny Easter eggs or
any other Easter theme.
External links
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