Simnel cake is an Easter staple, a traditional British fruit cake with origins stretching back to medieval times. This modern recipe is a million miles away from its medieval forebears and is a light and airy sweet treat compared to the dense texture of a Christmas cake. The marzipan balls, which represent the 12 apostles, are a particular highlight for me as I am incredibly partial to marzipan.
To pair with this delicious combination of dried fruits, baking spices, sweet marzipan and apricot jam we’ve gone with the ever-reliable, elegant and refined sweet wine of Chateau Petit Vedrines. The second wine from one of the top producers in Sauternes, the palate is rich in honey and lush stone fruit with great acidity that cuts through the richness of the fruitcake and marries perfectly with the sweet marzipan.
A perfect way to finish your Easter lunch.
Ingredients (yields at least 11 slices)
100 grams glace cherries
500 grams mixed dried fruit
175 grams soft unsalted butter
175 grams caster sugar
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
225 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
25 grams ground almonds
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 kilogram yellow marzipan to decorate
Icing sugar for rolling
1 tablespoon apricot jam (melted)
1 egg white (optional)
Method
- Take everything you need out of the fridge so it can get to room temperature. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170°C/150°C Fan/325°F. Butter and line the bottom and sides of a 20cm / 8-inch springform cake tin with a double layer of brown baking paper. Chop the cherries very finely and add them to the rest of the fruit.
- Cream the butter and sugar until very soft and light and add the lemon zest. Measure the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice and ground almonds into a bowl and stir to combine.
- Add 1 of the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar with 2 tablespoons of the dry flour-and-spice ingredients, then beat in the remaining eggs in the same way. Beat in the rest of the dry ingredients, and then the milk. Finally fold in the fruit.
- Dust a surface with a little icing sugar and then roll out about 400g / 14oz of the marzipan. Cut it into a 20cm / 8-inch circle which will fit in the middle of the cake later. Spoon half of the fruit cake mixture into the cake tin, smoothing it down with a rubber spatula, and then lay the marzipan circle on top of it. Spoon the rest of the mixture into the tin on top of the marzipan circle and smooth the top again. Bake for half an hour and then turn the oven down to gas mark 2/150°C/130°C Fan/300°F for another 1½ hours or until the cake has risen and is firm on top. Let it cool completely on a rack before you spring it open.
- Unspring the cooled fruit cake and unwrap the lining from the cake. Roll out another 400g / 14oz circle of marzipan, paint the top of the cake with the melted apricot jam, and then stick the marzipan on.
- Make 11 apostle balls out of the remaining marzipan, roughly 2.5cm / 1 inch in size. Beat the egg white — just till it’s a bit frothy and loosened up a little, no more — and use that as glue to stick the apostles around the edge of the cake.
- Paint the whole of the cake with egg white and then using a blow-torch or the grill function of your oven, scorch the marzipan slightly, giving a burnished look.
The Perfect Wine Match
Chateau Petit Vedrines, Sauternes, Bordeaux, France 2016 (37.5cl)
Enticing aromas of lemon curd, peach honey and orange marmalade fill the glass. The luscious and generous mouthfeel is complimented by bright, vibrant acidity and concentrated core of added citrus and white stone fruit as well as a delicate touch of ginger spice. Extremely moreish!
