What is a Simnel Cake?
@owlwings (43915)
Cambridge, England
April 19, 2019 9:20am CST
One of the English Easter traditions is the Simnel Cake. It is a fruit cake with a layer of marzipan baked into the middle (you can't see it in the picture of the one I made yesterday), covered with marzipan after baking and decorated with eleven marzipan balls. Sometimes people add other seasonal decorations, such as fluffy chicks and, as I have done here, some spring flowers in half an eggshell.
The eleven balls are supposed to represent the 12 Apostles less, of course, Judas Iscariot. That raises all sorts of issues with me, since I see Judas as just as much 'chosen' as the other apostles - albeit to start an unpleasant chain of events which was, nevertheless, necessary and ordained. That's another story, though, and Tradition is Tradition, so there are eleven balls of marzipan!
As far as I can discover, the word 'simnel' comes from the Latin meaning 'fine flour' but my own theory is that the cake (or bread) is always a springtime custom and it seems to me much more likely that it was baked as an offering to celebrate the sowing of seed - from the Latin 'semen' (seed),'seminare' (to sow) - which would make it a Seminal Cake. I'm not a linguist, though, so what do I know?
Marzipan (for those who aren't familiar with it) is a paste made from ground almonds, sugar and syrup.
22 people like this
19 responses
@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
19 Apr 19
Simila is semolina in Latin, it is a flour from durum wheat, the one used to make pasta like spaghetti and maccheroni, not the pasta with eggs in the dough. I was looking at this recipe two days ago on YouTube, I wanted to make a different Easter cake, but this one is a bit too rich. If this is the cake you made, you did a very good job.
4 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
It was certainly commended by all who ate it. I thought it had got too dark on the outside (and I did have to scrape it) but I see that Mary Berry's cake is also pretty dark (under the ribbon), so I don'r feel so bad about it.
Traditionally simnel cakes are very rich but this one is a bit lighter but just as flavourful.
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@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
@LadyDuck Baking is a fine balancing act between how quickly the mixture can reach the correct temperature in the centre to be cooked properly and how fast the outsideheats up until it begins to burn. A lower temperature sounds a sensible idea. I have never had any problems with bread in this oven, however. Perhaps that is because bread has less water and less sugar than a cake.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
20 Apr 19
@owlwings All those I have seen on YouTube are pretty dark outside. It is not surprising because it contains raisins and it has to stay in the oven 30 minutes. I usually bake at a lower temperature than the one suggested by the recipes and let the cake inside a few more minutes.
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@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
19 Apr 19
I'm afraid that the 'black layer' is rather overcooked (not to say burned!) cake mixture. I swear that I followed Mary Berry's recipe EXACTLY and baked it in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees (Celsius) and it was already quite done 20 minutes to a quarter of an hour before she says it should be. I know that the temperature was correct because I have checked my oven many times! I'm still at the bottom of the learning curve as far as baking goes!
Anyway, I know that it will be quite edible inside! (I'll try and post a photo to prove it later!)
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@BarBaraPrz (45484)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
19 Apr 19
@owlwings Why didn't you just cut off the burnt part before icing it?
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@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
19 Apr 19
@BarBaraPrz I scraped the worst of it off and I wasn't sure how much of the cake would be left to ice. Besides, I was a little short of time. Let people trim their own portions, I said! So we shall see .... better luck next time is my philosophy.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (157552)
• United States
20 Apr 19
This is something I have not heard of.I bet my hubby would like it. He really enjoys fruitcake. I like some fruit cakes. I am not sure if I have ever had marzipan, but this makes me want to go buy some just to enjoy.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
Here's the recipe, if you want to try it. You don't have to go with the eleven balls, of course (some people substitute those little candy eggs or any other decoration) but the layer of marzipan baked into the middle of the cake is one of the things which makes it unique.
I notice that the cake in the picture is quite dark on the outside, as mine was. I think this is partly because it uses muscovado sugar. Anyway, it didn't taste burnt - just caramelised!
Traditionally simnel cakes are very rich but this one is a bit lighter but just as flavourful.
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@BarBaraPrz (45484)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
19 Apr 19
I love fruitcake, and I love marzipan, but I've never heard of having them at Easter, just Christmas.
3 people like this
@much2say (53959)
• Los Angeles, California
19 Apr 19
I think of @LadyDuck 's post the day about Easter dessert traditions in other countries. I've never heard of this one (then again, we, US, don't seem to have an actual traditional Easter cake). I imagine it is quite rich, especially with the marzipan layer (then again, I don't think I've ever had homemade marzipan - the bought ones are definitely rich). Did you make the egg in the very center too? The contrast is striking! Ah, if only we could try a piece 
.2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
19 Apr 19
I have never made marzipan at home but I am going to try, one of these days. The marzipan was bought (but I checked the ingredients carefully - some of them adulterate the ground almonds with apricot kernels and/or rice flour.
No, I didn't make the egg with the duck hatching. It's a little plaster thing which we've had around for years. It comes out at Easter most years.
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@1creekgirl (40515)
• United States
19 Apr 19
That was interesting! Let us know how it turned out.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
It was tried (and I was complimented) by my family. It was less burned than I thought it would be and, in fact, was merely a little caramelised on the outside, which is maybe the way it should be according to the picture on the recipe.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (169930)
• United States
19 Apr 19
That's a new one on me, and I watch the Great British Baking Show. They make a number of things on there, I am not familiar with. Live and Learn!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
Mary Berry is a wonderful lady and is really the doyen of cake making. She has been one of the judges on the Great British Bake-off, so I expect that you've seen her.
@allknowing (130066)
• India
20 Apr 19
Marzipans are a Christmas delicacy which we make with cashew nuts instead of almonds giving them fruit shapes.
That was quite a bit of work. The chocolate icing looks inviting.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
There's no chocolate involved. The dark round the sides is the cake itself. I know it seems rather dark and I was afraid that it was really burnt but, in fact it was just caramelised and tasted good.
I have never had marzipan made from anything other than almonds. I imagine that cashew marzipan would be very good, since cashews also have a certain sweetness to them. I have never tried making marzipan from scratch - I imagine that it takes quite a lot of hard work unless you have an electric grinder.
We also have painted marzipan fruits at Christmas but they are made from almond marzipan, of course.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
20 Apr 19
@owlwings We have an electric grinder and I am sure most households would have them.
My date and walnut cake gets a colour too but not this dark
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@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Apr 19
@allknowing Electric grinders (by which I mean something which does the job of a mortar and pestle) are almost unheard of here. I can buy one on Amazon, of course, but I have never seen one in any shop here, not even the most large and well-stocked cooking shop. We have food processors (with blades at the bottom which can chop or grate vegetables and mix dough and that sort of thing and we have small coffee and herb mills but nothing which would grind nuts into flour fine enough for marzipan in any reasonable quantity.
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@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
13 Jul 19
The tradition used to be that it was made by girls in service (i.e. working as housemaids, kitchen maids &c in wealthy households) to take as a gift to their parents on Mothering Sunday (the fourth Sunday in Lent, 3 weeks before Easter) when they were allowed to visit their home church - many girls worked quite a distance from home, sometimes from the age of 12.
These days I think that it's thought of more as an Easter cake but it isn't a very common tradition to make one nowadays. My mother always used to make one so I decided to do the same this year.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
25 Jul 19
My mother used to make one each year! I am not keen on Marzipan to be honest. I have made it once but never again! That looks a pretty good cake there I would have welcomed a slice of that!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
4 May 19
The 'eggs' and the icing are made of marzipan. Some people don't like marzipan, in which case, I suppose, this cake would not be for them. Like a lot of cakes, the batter contains eggs. If someone were allergic to eggs, it would be possible to make an egg-free version.
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@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
11 May 19
must be delicious that cake. I have had marzipan .Mostly on wedding cakes. so so good. 
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@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
19 Apr 19
I never heard of that one before.
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