Simnel cake
 |
|
| Type | Fruit cake |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
 |
|
Simnel cake is a light fruit cake with two layers of almond paste or marzipan, one in the middle and one on top, that is toasted, and eaten during the Easter period in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some other countries. It was originally made for the middle Sunday of Lent, when the forty-day fast would be relaxed,Laetare Sunday, also known as Refreshment Sunday, Easter Sunday, Sunday of the Five Loaves, and Simnel Sunday – after the cake. The meaning of the word "simnel" is unclear: there is a 1226 reference to "bread made into a simnel", which is understood to mean the finest white bread, from the Latin simila – "fine flour", though John de Garlande felt that the word was equivalent to placenta cake, a cake that was intended to please.
Conventionally eleven, or occasionally twelve, marzipan balls are used to decorate the cake, with a story that the balls represent the twelve apostles, minus Judas or Jesus and the twelve apostles, minus Judas. However, this style of decoration, together with its story, did not become the norm until the 1970s, and the older, Victorian tradition of decorating the cakes with preserved fruits and flowers was the dominant form in recipes throughout the twentieth century. An early reference to decorating with marzipan balls appears in May Byron's Pot-Luck Cookery (1914), but with no mention of the modern story, and her version may well be derived from earlier styles, which were sometimes crenelated.
Simnel cake is a light fruit cake, generally made from these ingredients: white flour, sugar, butter, eggs, fragrant spices, dried fruits, zest and candied peel. Sometimes orange flower water or brandy is used, either in the cake batter or to flavour the almond paste. In most modern versions marzipan or almond paste is used as a filling for the cake, with a layer laid in the middle of the mix before the cake is cooked, and it is also used as decoration on the top. Most recipes require at least 90mn of cooking, and advise using several layers of baking parchment to line the tin, and sometimes brown paper wrapped around the outside to stop it burning.
...
Wikipedia