Simnel cake recipe

Details

• Cuisine: English
• Recipe Type: Cake
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation Time: 40 mins
• Cooking Time: 180 mins
• Serves: 16

Step-by-step

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/120°C fan/275°F/gas mark 1. Line a 20cm (8in) round cake tin with greaseproof paper (top and sides).
2. For the cake, cream the butter and sugar with an electric hand whisk until pale. Alternately add the flour and eggs, a bit at a time, and mix well until combined.
3. Stir in the spice, all the fruits and the brandy. Leave to rest while you make the marzipan.
4. For the marzipan, beat all the ingredients together until it comes together in a smooth dough. A food processor or mixer with a beater attachment is the quickest way to do this.  
5. Roll out the marzipan on surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to about 1cm (0.4in) thick. Cut out 2 circles the same size in diameter as the cake tin. Then, with the leftover marzipan, shape 11 smaller balls and 1 slightly bigger ball. Wrap one of the discs and all the balls in cling film and store in an airtight container until ready to assemble the cake.
6. Pour half of the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Top with one of the marzipan discs. Then pour in the rest of the cake mixture and bake in the preheated oven for about 2 hours 20-30 minutes. Test it’s cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre, which should come out clean. Leave it to cool in the tin, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. It’s a deep cake, so allow up to 3 hours for this.
7. To assemble the cake, brush the top of the cake with apricot jam and cover with the other marzipan disc. Dip the balls in a little of the jam and place them around the cake, finishing with the big one in the middle.
8. Preheat the grill, then put the cake under to just brown the top – keep an eye on it as it will brown quickly (about 1 minute). Alternatively, use a cook's blowtorch.

Image: zoryanchik/Shutterstock