Medieval Simnel Cake

Origin: English      Period: Medieval

Originally Simnel cake was a case of hard pastry, coloured gold with saffron and filled with all types of dried fruit. In later years the fruit filling became a fruitcake and the pastry was replaced by marzipan.

Ingredients

2 pie crusts
100g ground almonds
80g currants
80g raisins
60g mixed candied peel
80g semi-dried figs, finely chopped
80g dates, finely chopped
80g stoned prunes, chopped
50g chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
50ml honey
pinch of saffron
2 tbsp boiling water
4 tbsp honey
1 egg white

Method:

You need a lot of pastry here as the Simnel cake needs to be a self-supporting cube. Basically you're building the cake rather like the battlements of a castle. Begin by rolling your pastry some 2cm thick. Cut 6 squares about 8cm per side from the pastry. Place one of the squares on the bottom of a well-greased baking tray. Arrange four squares around the sides of the base square so that you have a lidless cube. Pinch the sides bottoms, and insides together so the cube stays up (you may need some support, create ropes of pastry and use these to support the base of your cube).

Prepare the fruit by mixing together with the walnuts and spices in a bowl add the 50ml honey and the ground almonds and mix with the fruit. Use the fruit to fill the pastry cube (add more if you don't have enough). The fruit should come to the top of the cube. Take your final square of pasty and pierce several times with a sharp knife. Place this on top of the pie and crimp the edges to join properly.

Make a glaze by dissolving the saffron in the boiling water. Add this to the honey to soften it then beat-in the egg white. You should have a yellow liquid which you can use to glaze the entire pie. Carefully place the pie in an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is coloured and quite hard.

Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray. When cool enough to handle slide a sharp-bladed knife under the cake (use a filleting knife) and carefully transfer to a serving plate.

This most traditional of Simnel cakes makes a rather wonderful talking point for any Easter meal.

Find more Easter Recipes Here

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