Simnel Cake

There are many versions of the story of how the Simnel cake originated, but as I'm not sure which one is actually true, I'll save confusion and not go into the details. What I do know is that nowadays it is made for Easter and decorated with marzipan balls to represent the eleven disciples. Yes eleven not twelve, Judas is left out and if you know your Bible stories, I think you'll have worked out why.

Simnel cake is very much like a lighter version of Christmas cake and I think I prefer it. Dotted with juicy fruit and fragranced with a dash of cinnamon it's perfect for any celebration, but you need to like marzipan to enjoy it, there's lots of it – on the top – and my favourite part, the seam of gooeyness in the centre.

There probably isn't an authentic recipe left in existence as my research found a multitude of different ones using varying quantities of fruit and even nuts, but I've put together one that appeals to my tastes.

Ingredients
225g butter, softened
225g sugar
4 eggs
225g plain flour
335g dried mixed fruit
110g glacé cherries, quartered
grated zest of 2 lemons
2 tsp ground cinnamon
450g almond paste
2 tbsp orange marmalade
1 egg, beaten

Method
Pre-heat oven to 150°C /Gas 2.
Butter a 20cm diameter deep round cake tin. Line with the bottom and sides with baking parchment making sure you leave a collar of paper sticking above the rim of the tin.

Place the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, mixed dried fruit, glace cherries, lemon zest and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and beat together until thoroughly blended

Place half the mixture into the cake tin and smooth over the surface.

Take one-third of the almond paste and roll it out into a circle the size of the tin. Place it on top of the cake mixture. Spoon the remaining cake mixture over and smooth the surface.

Bake the cake for about 2 hours 30 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch. Cover with foil after 1 hour if the top is browning too quickly. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cake has cooled, brush the top with the warmed marmalade and roll out half of the remaining almond paste to fit the top. Press firmly on the top and crimp the edges to decorate.

Mark a criss-cross pattern on the almond paste with a sharp knife. Form the remaining almond paste into 11 balls (to represent the 11 disciples). Arrange the balls around the outside.

Preheat the grill. Brush the marzipan with a little of the beaten egg. Place the cake under the preheated grill to turn the almond paste golden. Keep an eye on it and turn the cake around to prevent burning.

Photo: ©childsdesign 2011

The Chocolate Festival, London 2011

Recently I was invited to a press launch of The Chocolate Festival, where I was treated to some talks and tastings to promoted the event which started in Oxford last weekend. Next stop is London when the South Bank plays host to three days of chocolate pleasure. From the 8 – 10 April, the area around The Royal Festival Hall will be lined with stalls filled with some of the finest chocolate and chocolate related products to try and buy.

For true devotees of this glorious substance there will also be live demonstrations and tutored tastings from some of the best Chocolatiers; from William Curley and Bill McCarrick to Damian Allsop and Paul Wayne Gregory.

This a very appropriate time of year for the festival as Easter is only a couple of weeks away, when most people are thinking about chocolate. The Chocolate Festival is the place to visit if you're looking for that special gift or are even thinking of treating yourself.

For more information about the event visit www.festivalchocolate.co.uk

The Big Chocolate Tea Party

On the Sunday 10th the event will be hosting The Big Chocolate Tea Party in support of The Sick Children's Trust. They will be joined by Channel 5 Milkshake! Presenters Derek Moran and Jen Pringle and celebrity cupcake maker, Lily Vanilli, is hosting a free children's chocolate workshop and there will be goodies galore.

Click here to find out more about the charity event


Photo from The Chocolate Festival website

Easter Cupcakes

I usually like to make something in the form of a cake for Easter, but rather than make a big cake as usual, I opted for some pretty cupcakes instead. To celebrate the joy of Spring (although it has been snowing this weekend!) I chose to decorate them with fragrant crystallised violets.

Makes 12

Ingredients
125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
125g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons milk

For the icing
250g icing sugar, sifted

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, warmed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
yellow and pink food colouring
crystallised violets

crystallised angelica

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C Gas 6 and line a 12-hole deep muffin tin with cases.

Beat together all of the cake ingredients for a couple of minutes in a food processor until you have a smooth batter. Divide between the muffin cases and bake for about 15 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of the warmed lemon juice (add 1 first and then add the other if it's needed) to make a smooth spreadable paste, mix in the vanilla extract. Put half of the mixture in another bowl. In the first bowl mix in a little of the yellow colouring. In the second bowl mix in a litle of pink colouring. You want your colors to be soft pastel spring shades, the yellow reminiscent of primroses and the pink like cherry blossom. Try to avoid lurid psychedelic colours by adding a drop at a time from a skewer dipped into the dye.

Slice off any peaks from the top of the cupcakes, to give a flattish surface, and then spoon over the icing and smooth to the edges using the back of the spoon. Leave for a couple of minutes and then put some crystallised violets and angelica in the middle of each one. Leave to set completely.