A Houseful of Love

If you’ve never had a slice of simnel cake, add it to your bucket list! This light fruitcake is a traditional treat in the United Kingdom for Mothering Sunday (Lent IV and their Mother’s Day) and for Easter. Filled with various dried fruits, bright orange zest, fragrant spices, and layers of marzipan, it tastes like spring and is positively delightful when paired with a nice cup of tea.

If I ever host a tea party, I would absolutely make this show-stopper of a cake. It is just so lovely, moist, and delicious. It’s also thoroughly English, which I (as an Anglican Catholic, drawn to the beauty of the English expression of the Catholic faith) find particularly charming.

Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list or the many steps – it’s actually a very simple, almost rustic cake that is incredibly forgiving. Think “English peasant” cake more than “French pastry chef” cake.

As such, you can do a long sourdough fermentation (for the health benefits and flavor, since the rise is negligible) or not. You can also choose to use fresh milled flour or regular all-purpose flour. Feel free to swap out the dried fruit as well for whatever varieties are most easily accessible to you.

Do I need to use sourdough starter or fresh milled flour to make this cake?

Nope! I use both for health benefits more than their culinary effects in this recipe. The cake is primarily leavened with baking powder and the amount of flour is fairly small. As such, neither make a huge difference in terms of how the recipe turns out.

Long-fermented sourdough is easier to digest, has fewer antinutrients, and can make it a bit gentler on blood sugar (though this cake still has plenty of sugar to watch out for). I also like the bit of sourdough tang that it adds, though it is incredibly subtle compared to the other flavors in this cake.

Fresh milled flour adds some extra fiber, protein, and fat, plus a wide range of additional nutrients (especially B vitamins, vitamin E, and minerals) not found in all-purpose flour. Since I have a grain mill, I figure that I might as well take advantage of those nutrients, but if you just have all-purpose flour, it will work just fine!

When should I make simnel cake?

Simnel cake was traditionally made for Mothering Sunday, which is the 4th Sunday in Lent. Some call this Sunday “Laetere Sunday”, from the Introit’s “Laetare Jerusalem,” or “Rejoice, O Jerusalem.” This is when the Church swaps her violet (purple) vestments for rose (pink) ones, marking the halfway point in the Lenten season with a more hopeful and joyous tone as Easter comes closer into view.

Historically, Christians visited the church of their baptism – their “mother church” – on this Sunday. In the 17th century, this included domestic servants and apprentices. They took advantage of one of their very few (if not only) days off in the year to check on their mothers, as well as the rest of their family. Since food was often a bit scarce in the early days of spring, they brought food (like a simnel cake) or money with them.

Today, Mothering Sunday is Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom. I think that simnel cake is still the perfect Mother’s Day treat. I know I’d be delighted if someday my children threw a tea party for me, complete with a simnel cake!

Simnel cake is now commonly served on Easter Sunday. I love to make it as our Easter dessert. It keeps well, so I can make it several days in advance, before Easter prep really kicks in. I also can’t stand the thought of only enjoying it once per year – it deserves an encore!

What does “simnel” mean?

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word “simnel” comes from simenel (Old French, c. 1200), meaning “fine wheat flour; flat bread cake; or Lenten cake.” This is likely from simila (Latin), or its diminutive siminellus, which means “fine flour” – the same root as “semolina.” At one point, simnel cakes were so commonly made for the 4th Sunday in Lent that it was even called Simnel Sunday!

Is there a more budget-friendly way to make a simnel cake?

Yes! Candied orange peel and marzipan are not the cheapest ingredients, but luckily they are incredibly easy to make yourself.

Marzipan consists of almond flour, powdered sugar, almond extract, and water. If you use a food processor to help you along, it takes less than 10 minutes. Since fresh, room temperature marzipan is much easier to work with than cold marzipan, I roll out the 8″ and 9″ rounds for the cake right away, then wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for later.

If you make your own candied orange peel, make a big enough batch for some hot cross buns as well. You can also use the leftover syrup in place of the apricot jam for the hot cross buns or the simnel cake. You can even use leftover sugar from coating the candied orange peels in the hot cross buns in place white sugar for an extra bit of orange flavor!

What do the eleven marzipan balls represent?

The eleven marzipan balls around the top of the cake represent the eleven true disciples at the Last Supper, excluding Judas Iscariot. I find that it can be difficult to divide the marzipan into eleven pieces. One strategy is to make twelve marzipan balls and enjoy one as a treat (bye-bye, traitor!). Otherwise, just eyeball it and do your best!

For placing them evenly around the outside of the cake, I find it helpful to make small dots with a toothpick where I think they should go. If I’m off, it’s easy to smooth over the small dots and try again until I get it right. I find it helpful to think of a clock face and just make the spaces between the balls slightly bigger!

Do I need to use a blow torch to decorate the simnel cake?

No, it is not strictly necessary to use a blow torch. If you don’t have one, you could use a bit of cinnamon on top of each marzipan ball to imitate the effect. You can also just leave it plain!

I like to draw a cross in the middle, especially because I tend to bring it to church for Mothering Sunday and serve it for Easter. However, you can decorate the cake however you like! I’ve seen some beautiful cakes with little birds’ nests in the middle or other Easter-y decorations. Or leave it plain. The cake will speak for itself!

How long does simnel cake keep?

Simnel cake keeps incredibly well and the flavors actually deepen over time. Without the marzipan decorations on top, simnel cake can last a few weeks in the fridge. Just be sure to cool it completely then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.

That being said, I find that the marzipan is at its best when it is fairly fresh. My process is to make the cake about a week before Easter, refrigerate it until Easter Eve, then take it out and decorate it with the apricot jam, 9″ marzipan round, and the 11 marzipan balls.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups raisins, roughly chopped – don’t worry about perfect chopping, just run a knife through the pile quickly to help them absorb the juice.
• 3/4 cups dried cranberries, roughly chopped – can substitute with more raisins
• 3/4 cups candied orange peels, chopped – I recommend making your own – it’s cheaper and free of additives! You can also substitute with other dried fruit.
• 1 orange for zest and juice – You should be able to get about 1/4 cup of juice from the orange, but a little more or less won’t hurt. If you’re not doing an overnight sourdough ferment, either begin soaking the fruit earlier or heat up the orange juice before pouring it over the fruit.
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 220g (1 cup, packed) dark brown sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 50g sourdough starter – use active starter, fridge-cold starter, or relatively fresh discard to ferment. For same day baking, feel free to omit and add 25g of flour. If omitting, skip the overnight ferment and all the dry ingredients together.
• 155g soft white wheat flour – a different low-protein wheat berry or all-purpose flour will also work
• 50g almond flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice – or mixed spice (more readily available in the UK – pumpkin pie spice is fairly similar and much more easily available on this side of the pond)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 530g marzipan, divided into thirds – I make a batch and a half of this easy recipe. So simple and so much cheaper than buying pre-made marzipan. If you do make your own, I recommend rolling out one third into an 8″ round and another into a 9″ round before you refrigerate because it is much easier to work with when fresh and room temperature.
• 1/2 cup apricot jam

Directions

Step 1: Soak raisins, dried cranberries, candied orange peel, and orange zest in orange juice overnight in fridge while the dough ferments. If skipping the overnight ferment, use hot orange juice and soak for an hour or so.

Step 2: Cream together butter and brown sugar in stand mixer with beater attachment, for 4-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed.

Step 3: Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Step 4: Add the sourdough starter. Beat for another minute, until combined.

Step 5: Add the flour. Beat until combined into a smooth dough.

Step 6: Cover and ferment overnight. It will not rise much. We’re just fermenting for the health benefits, not the rise. Do not be alarmed if it looks basically the same in the morning.

This is a good time to make the marzipan. I recommend dividing it into thirds and rolling it out into the 8″ and 9″ rounds right after you make it because it is much easier to work with when it is room temperature. Just wrap the rounds up in plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge for later. The final third can be divided into the 11 balls later without much trouble, but you can do that ahead of time as well.

Step 7: In the morning, whisk together almond flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt.

Step 8: Add the dry mixture to the fermented cake batter. Beat until fully incorporated.

Step 9: Mix in the soaked fruit until evenly distributed.

Step 10: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Grease a 9” cake pan (see recipe notes for other cake pan sizes), line it with parchment paper, then grease over the parchment paper to prevent any sticking.

Step 11: If you have not done so already, roll out an 8” circle of marzipan from one third of the marzipan and a 9” circle from another third. Wrap the 9” circle in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for later.

Step 12: Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared cake pan, top it with the 8” round of marzipan, then pour in the rest of the batter. Batter will be thick, so just do your best to smooth it out – it will even out while baking.

Step 13: Bake for 90 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake’s internal temperature is 200°F. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then remove from cake pan and allow to cool on baking rack until room temperature. If serving same day, proceed to next step. If serving later, wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge until the day you plan to serve it.

Step 14: Brush top of the cake with warmed apricot jam and top with the 9” round of marzipan.

Step 15: Split the remaining third of marzipan into 11 equal(ish) pieces. Roll into balls, then place them in a circle around the outer edge of the top of the cake, using apricot jam to attach them.

Step 16 (optional): Use a blow torch to caramelize the top of each ball. I also like to add a cross in the middle.

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Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 339 kcal
Fat: 15g
Total Carbohydrates: 47g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 6g

The nutrition data provided here is for informational only and is only an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It cannot be verified or guaranteed, and should not be used in the treatment of medical conditions. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice This data should be interpreted and used at your own risk.