Surprisingly easy to make and loaded with dried fruits and almond paste, this mouthwatering Simnel Cake will be a beautiful addition to your Easter table. It's a decadent treat for any occasion!
Simnel Cake (British Easter Fruit Cake)
Friends, I never stop being amazed by how beautiful and festive European holiday desserts are. In winter, I shared the recipe for the incredible Danish Rice Pudding and German Christmas cake. And in spring, it's time for Easter festivities.
A while ago, I showed you how to make traditional Ukrainian Easter Bread. It's a family's favorite recipe that never fails. A few days before Easter Sunday, expect to see me in the kitchen covered in flour and baking Paska.
If you haven't tried Paska yet, I included step-by-step photo instructions to make the process a little easier.
Speaking of Easter desserts, my mom was actually the one who first told me about a beautiful Simnel cake.
Although the cake looks quite fancy, believe me, it's not that difficult to make. I was expecting to spend half a day in the kitchen, but surprisingly, I finished the whole thing much sooner than expected.
When I made this cake for the first time, my mother-in-law stopped by and joined my parents and us for dinner. Needless to say, this cake was an absolute hit. It came out super moist, flavorful, and delicious, the kind of dessert you can't stop eating.
Did I say Easter? In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and several other countries, Simnel Cake is considered a traditional Easter Treat. Its signature ingredients are dried fruits (lots of them!) and marzipan. These ingredients, by default, make any recipe delicious.
The cake batter somewhat reminds me of the Easy Fruit Cake Recipe I made some time ago.
It's packed with delicious and juicy dried fruits. You can use any combination of dried fruits you like. I used raisins, cherries, papaya, and pineapple. Currants would be a great addition, too.
Simnel Cake serves 11 people and is perfect for Easter Sunday brunch to feed a crowd. Try it for yourself, and let me know what you think.
Recipe
Simnel Cake (British Easter Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 8 ounces all-purpose flour sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 ounces almond meal
- 5 ounces brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon whiskey
- 6 ounces butter melted
- 5 ounces candied papaya + pineapple finely chopped
- 8 ounces Thompson raisins + dried cherries
- 2 ounces chopped almonds
- 1 orange zested
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 14 ounces 2 boxes almond paste
- 3-4 tablespoons apricot jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 F and line 6" round deep cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl add raisins and whiskey and leave for 30 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine candied papaya and pineapple, raisins, almonds, orange zest, sugar, almond meal, melted butter and eggs. Mix well.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. Slowly add flour and spice mixture into the dried fruit batter and mix just until all ingredients are combined.
- Spoon half of the batter into a cake pan.
- Place ⅓ of almond paste in between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll it out into 6" round disk. Repeat with another ⅓ of almond paste.
- Place one almond paste disk on top of the batter.
- Spoon the remaining batter into the pan and bake for 3 ½ - 4 hours until toothpick comes out clean. (See the notes). Remove from the oven, leave it to cool.
- Remove cake from the cake pan.
- Spread a thin layer of apricot jam on top of the cake and place the second almond paste disk on top.
- Form 11 even size balls from the remaining almond paste and arrange them on top.
- Place cake under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until top of the cake is slightly toasted.
- Serve.
Notes
If you make this recipe, make sure to snap a photo and post it on Instagram with a hashtag #lavenderandmacarons.
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Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
Maryna says
Simnel Cake easy to prepare. Its crumbly and delicious desert for the whole family. I replaced cherries with dried cranberries. And with baking spices, the aroma are very elegant. If you want to surprise your guests-bake Fruit cake.
Iryna says
Thank you for your lovely comment Maryna! I'm so glad you liked the cake:)
Stephanie ReadsWell says
The Simnel cake looks so delicious. I'd love to try it on this weekend. Thanks for your recipe instructions.
Iryna says
Thank you for the comment Stephanie! This cake is delicious indeed. You will love it:)
Kulia says
So beautiful!
Iryna says
Thank you!