Simnel Cake for Easter

I made a mini  Simnel cake today.  I actually made two but only finished one with its topping of lightly toasted almond paste and eleven symbolic almond paste balls (depicting the disciples without Judas).  Historically, it was made to be eaten during Lent on Mothering Sunday but as we’re going to Scotland for Easter, I thought it would be a special treat for us to be able to feast on fruit cake after a hard day walking on the beaches of Tiree, hence the baking!  It smelt so good, it was hard not to cut a slice to test it!

Easter Simnel cake by Mary Berry

Ingredients
100g/4oz glacé cherries
225g/8oz butter, softened
225g/8oz light muscovado sugar
4 large eggs
225g/8oz self-raising flour
225g/8oz sultanas
100g/4oz currants
50g/2oz chopped candied peel
2 lemons, grated zest only
2 tsp ground mixed spice
For the filling and topping
450g/1lb marzipan
1-2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed

Preparation method
1. Preheat the oven to 150C/280F/Gas 2. Grease and line a 20cm/ 8in
cake tin.
2. Cut the cherries into quarters, put in a sieve and rinse under running
water. Drain well then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper.
3. Place the cherries in a bowl with the butter, sugar, eggs, self-raising
flour, sultanas, currants, candied peel, lemon zest and mixed spice
and beat well until thoroughly mixed. Pour half the mixture into the
prepared tin.
4. Take one-third of the marzipan and roll it out to a circle the size of
the tin and then place on top of the cake mixture. Spoon the
remaining cake mixture on top and level the surface.
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 2½ hours, or until well risen,
evenly brown and firm to the touch. Cover with aluminium foil after
one hour if the top is browning too quickly. Leave to cool in the tin for
10 minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling
on a wire rack.
6. When the cake is cool, brush the top with a little warmed apricot jam
and roll out half the remaining marzipan to fit the top. Press firmly on
the top and crimp the edges to decorate. Mark a criss-cross pattern
on the marzipan with a sharp knife. Form the remaining marzipan
into 11 balls.
7. Brush the marzipan with beaten egg and arrange the marzipan balls
around the edge of the cake. Brush the tops of the balls with beaten
egg and then care

Happy Easter