Easter Simnel Cake Recipe
With the Easter round the corner, it is time to make some traditional Easter recipes. Easter coincides with the Jewish Passover festival. This was traditionally the time for the Pagan springtime ritual, when offerings were made to Eostre the goddess of fertility. The forty-day period before Easter, beginning from the Ash Wednesday, is known as the Lent. This is the time for fasting and repentance, which finally culminates to paying homage to Christ on Easter Friday. This is also the time for traditional foods. The simnel cake is a fruitcake, which daughters used to bring home to their mothers on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Here is a simnel cake recipe that you can make for your family and friends this Easter.
Ingredients
100 grams butter
100 grams brown sugar
125 grams castor sugar
150 grams flour
4 beaten eggs
350 grams of currants, sultanas and raisins
½ teaspoon of mixed spice powder
½ teaspoon of grated rind of lemon
2-tablespoon apricot jam
A pinch of salt
125 grams of almond, finely ground
½ teaspoon almond essence
Process
In a bowl, mix the castor sugar and the ground almond. Add one beaten egg to make a mixture of soft consistency. Add the almond essence. Make a smooth paste with these ingredients. Take one third of the paste and roll it out to make a circle around 7 inches in diameter. Keep aside the rest of the paste, which will be used for making the topping of the cake. The almond paste, known as marzipan, is the most important part of decorating the simnel cake. Traditionally eleven marzipan balls, representing the apostles of Christ other than Judas, were used for decorating the cake.
To make the cake mix the butter and brown sugar until a fluffy mixture is formed. Slowly add three beaten eggs and stir the ingredients well. Add the flour, spice, salt, lemon rind and the sultana, raisins and currants. Blend the ingredients well.
Take a greased cake tin. Put half of the cake mixture in the tin. Smooth its surface and cover it with the layer of marzipan. Cover the almond layer with the remaining cake mixture. Smooth the top and put it in a pre-heated oven. Bake the cake for about 1 ½ hours at 140 degree Celsius.
After the cake is baked, decorate it with apricot jam and marzipan balls. Return the cake in the preheated oven for five minutes until the almond balls become brown.
