I haven’t been baking or cooking very much this month or last. Blogging has gone much the same way. My weekends have been spent almost entirely outside soaking up the first of the good weather, and in reality gutting our new garden.
However I decided it would be wrong to let Easter pass without at least baking something, so I opted for Simnel Cake.
The original recipe I was using was for a loaf cake but waiting the 1 hours and 40 minutes it took to cook was beyond my powers of patience. So I opted for pouring the mixture into my muffin tin, this cut the cooking down to 30 minutes, which is much easier on a week night or a busy weekend.
Simnel Muffins
~ makes enough for 6 large Muffins plus 4 fairy cakes
A quick Easter cake recipe, perfect for your Easter table, made with sultanas, glace cherries and marzipan.
Making this recipe in muffin tins takes 25 minutes, for fairy cake sized cakes reduce the time by 5 minutes. To bake a loaf cake, double the amounts listed below and up the cooking time to 1 hour 40 minutes.
- 100 grams of butter, room temperature.
- 100 grams of caster sugar
- 175 grams of self raising flour
- 2 large eggs.
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced.
- 125 grams of sultanas.
- 75 grams of glace cherries.
- 1/2 tsp of mixed spice, I used allspice and cinnamon, plus good grating of nutmeg.
- 75 grams of marzipan, cubed and rolled into balls.
- 30 grams of flaked almonds, I didn’t have any in my cupboard so I skipped this.
- 1 1/2 tbsp of apricot jam, to glaze. (optional)
Beat the butter, sugar, flour and eggs together till combined, be careful to not over beat as this will make them denser.
Mix the lemon zest, juice, sultanas, cherries and mixed spices to the mix until evenly combined.
Spoon half portions into each muffin slot, then in each one drop marzipan balls in the center, top up with the rest of the mixture. Finally sprinkle flaked almonds on top.
Pop in the oven for 25 minutes. Once they are done a skewer should come out clean.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then gently remove them. At this point I tried one, and decided that they were sweet enough without the apricot jam. However if you still wish to glaze, heat the jam with a little water smoothing out any lumps. Then drizzle over the top of each muffin.
Still looking for other Easter worthy recipes? Have a look at some from my archives :
Or cooking for a crowd this weekend? Here are recipes perfect for large numbers :
- Slow Baked Steaks – Individually wrapped steaks cooked in the oven.
- Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon – pop it in the slow cooker, and 8 hours later you have the perfect meal!
- Roasted Vegetables – perfect as a side to any Roast Meat.
Happy Easter!
Interested in more Easter recipes? Follow me on twitter, I am @coffeemuffins.