Easter simnel cake

Tip the dried fruits, cherries, mixed peel and rum into a bowl and soak for 2 hours or overnight, if you like.

Heat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/gas 3. Butter and line the bottom of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with baking paper. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one followed by the golden syrup.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and mixed spice. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture followed by the soaked dried fruit, any soaking liquid and orange zest.

Add ½ of the cake batter to the prepared cake tin, smooth the surface and put aside.

Roll out ¹/3 of the marzipan and cut out an 18cm circle. Gently put this on top of the cake batter in the tin, spread the rest of the cake batter on top and smooth out again.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes or until dark golden, springy to the touch and slightly shrinking away from the sides of the tin (add foil over the top if it starts to brown too much). A skewer pushed into the centre will come out clean when it’s ready. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake cools, cut off enough marzipan to form 11 small, equal-sized balls. Roll out the rest of the marzipan and cut out a 20cm circle, leaving enough to hang over the sides of the cake. Brush the apricot jam on the top of the cooled cake and put the marzipan circle on top. Use fingers to crimp the edges around the cake. Top with
the marzipan balls.

To finish, blowtorch the marzipan until starting to bubble and brown (you can do this under a grill if you don’t have a blow torch).