Simnel Cake
Fran's Simnel Cake
Simnel Cake was traditionally made on Mothering Sunday, the original mother’s day, by servant girls to take hom to their mothers. It has now been modified and adopted in England as an Easter recipe although now not that widely known or adopted, which is a shame because its delicious!
Ingredients
6oz butter
6oz soft brown sugar
3 eggs lightly beaten
8oz self raising flour sieved
½ tspn ground cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
6oz sultanas
10 0z currants
2oz ground almonds
2 x 8oz pack almond paste plus extra for apostles on top.
Method
Preheat oven to 160 C. Cream fat and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs a little at time. Fold in dry ingredients except for almonds. Then fold in fruit and almonds. Place half of mixture in a greased 8 inch cake tin (round so the devil cant get into the corners!) Roll out one circle of almond paste (marzipan) about 1/2 cm thick to sit the tin and place on top of the mixture. Cover with remaining mixture. Bake in a a preheated oven for 2 hours, checking at intervals after one hour and testing with a skewer. The cake is ready when the skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and decorate by placing a second circle of almond paste on top and crimping the edges to the cake with your thumb. Roll out 11 balls to place around teh edge, to represent the 12 apostles minus Judas. Complete the decoration with whatever ou like; ribbon, flowers, fluffy chicks, eggs etc. Serve over Easter with a steaming pot of tea.
Grandpa Rick’s Really Easy Lemonade Scones
This is a really easy scone recipe my dad makes. Scones freeze really well so are really good to grab from the freezer if a last minute picnic is calling. Even better served with strawberry jam and clotted cream (unless you’re from Devon where they do it the wrong way round for some reason!)
Cream on top please!
Ingredients
4 cups of self raising flour
300ml cream
335ml of lemonade
Method
Preheat oven to 200C Mix together and roll out to an inch thick. Cut with scone cutters or even square ones with a sharp knife. Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 15 mins.
Hi Charley,
just to annoy I may put the jam on top!
love it….
xxx
Pah! Jam goes on top of the cream, everybody knows that!!!!
Signed
The Devon Dumpling
Well I suppose whatever floats your boat! But those of us who come from West of the Tamar put it on top, and it must be clotted cream, none of that whipped rubbish in a can!
Aha . . . . so Grandpa Rick can cook can he? I had better wander up to the top house and get a load of scones under my belt. Today he’s been too busy riding his bike and trying to catch snapper and Kai Moana – that’s Maori for ‘food from the sea’ to you northerners.
P.S. Everybody down under knows that you put the “whipped cream” on top of the strawberry jam! The scone underneath is optional but stops the rest of it running down your elbows.
Signed, The Gastronomical Guru from Kerikeri, N.Z.
Bay of Islands.
Hi Gastrononmical Guru! Well Grandpa Rick reckons he can knock a batch of scones out pretty fast so you should definitely head up to the tophouse and challenge him on it!