Easter Simnel Cake Recipe

A delicious recipe for an Easter Cake from the Village Pump kitchen

EASTER SIMNEL CAKE

Although now a traditional Easter cake, the Simnel cake was originally given by servant girls to their mothers on Mothering Sunday.

Ingredients:

Cake

6 oz (175 g) soft margarine or butter

6 oz (175 g) light soft brown sugar

3 eggs

6 oz (175 g) self-raising flour

2 level teaspoons mixed spice

10 oz (275 g) mixed dried fruit

2 oz (50 g) ground almonds

1 lb (450 g) almond paste (see below)

Decoration

A little pale yellow glace icing made with

6 oz (175 g) icing sugar

sugar eggs, and decorative chickens

Method

1. Heat the oven to 325 degreesF, 160 degreesC, gas mark 3.

2. Grease and line an 8 inch (20 cm) round cake tin with greased greaseproof paper.

3. Put all cake ingredients, except for the almond paste, into a large mixing bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon until well blended.

4. Place half the mixture in the bottom of the tin and level out the top.

5. Take 12 oz (350 g) of the almond past and roll out to a circle the size of the tin and then place on top of the cake mix in the tin.

6. Cover the almond paste with the remaining cake mix and level the top.

7. Bake in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours until evenly browned and shrinking away slightly from the sides of the tin.

8. Leave the tin to cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out and peel off the paper.

9. Finish cooling on a wire rack.

10. With the remaining almond paste, make a long sausage then lay this in a circle round the outside top of the cake.

11. Pour the icing into the centre of the circle and leave to set.

12. Decorate the cake with sugar eggs and chickens.

Almond paste (makes about 1 1/2 lb (675g)

Ingredients

8 oz (225 g) ground almonds

8 oz (225 g) caster sugar

8 oz (225 g) icing sugar, sieved

4 egg yolks or 2 whole size 3 eggs

About 6 drops of almond essence

Ray Thompson