not quite medieval simnel cake

How To Make not quite medieval simnel cake

• 1

  Preheat oven to 300℉. Grease a 9" x 13" metal baking pan.* Line with kitchen parchment or waxed paper (be neat if you want your cake to look pretty) then grease the paper. Set aside. *You could use two 8" pans, round or square - cooking time may be reduced. I have never used a glass pan to make this so I cant say how it will perform. I don't recommend using glass because it will be difficult to tell when the cake is done. See step #10.
• 2

  Pre-warm almond paste. You really want the paste to be ~almost~ pourable. It will be much better if you pre-warm it now (before you start mixing the batter) instead of waiting until step #8. My paste comes in a glass jar from which I remove the lid, then put in the microwave for a few seconds at a time (maybe 10 or 15 to start with), stirring after each (if possible) until it's slightly easier to spread than peanut butter: kind of "gloppy" but not loose. If it's too hot to touch, let it cool until it's the right consistency. (Another heating method is to place watertight almond paste container in hot, NOT boiling, water (being careful not to crack the glass from temperature shock) until paste is soft and squishy.)
• 3

  In a large mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar until smooth.
• 4

  Add eggs one by one, beating after each addition. You want a lot of loft since this recipe uses no leavening. You need those air bubbles to make the cake lighter.
• 5

  Sift flour with salt and mix fully into wet ingredients, retaining as much loft as possible. (If you skip sifting, your cake will be more dense.)
• 6

  Dust grated citrus peel and currants with some flour. Be sure to break up clumps so they distribute evenly throughout the cake. Stir gently into batter to retain loft.
• 7

  Pour half the batter into prepared pan, smoothing evenly into corners. Make shallow 3" wide trough longways down the center, as if you drug a golf ball through the batter. This will help the cake cook more evenly. Don't worry if the batter starts to ease back to where it was. It will be good enough.
• 8

  Spread warmed almond paste evenly over top of batter in baking pan, maintaining as much trough as is still visible. If your paste has become too cool and dense, warm it up bit by bit in the microwave (or let it sit in hot, NOT boiling, water), stirring frequently until it's the right consistency.
• 9

  Add remaining batter to completely cover almond paste, spreading evenly across the top, maintaining trough as before (no need to keep reinforcing it, just treat however much of it is visible at the time). Don't worry about the trough you made earlier: rest assured enough of it is still there to make a difference.
• 10

  Bake at 300℉ for 1 hour and 45 minutes OR UNTIL DONE. (Before placing in the oven, I do a "test tap" under the bottom center of the pan with my fingernail* before placing it in the oven so you know what the cake sounds like raw.) Since there is a layer of almond paste in the center, using a toothpick to test for doneness is futile: it will always come out gooey. To test for doneness, I tap my finger nail* (remembering the pan is HOT!) under the bottom center of the pan, listening for a hollow sound. I always do a "test tap" before putting it in the oven so I can compare it to the baked sound. *You could also use the handle of a table knife or something of similar heft.
• 11

  Allow to cool in the pan completely before serving (I use a rack). Cake is very rich, so small pieces are recommended (I cut 12). If you're making the cake to be seen, cool in the pan on a rack for 15 or so minutes, then flip the cake out of the pan onto the cooling rack and carefully remove parchment/wax paper. When completely cool, place cake on platter and dust with powdered sugar before serving. I have never frosted this cake as it is already extremely rich, and it was not called for in the recipe I adapted from.
• 12

  NOTES *This is a rich, dense fruit cake. There is no leavening. It is important to make sure the cake is completely baked throughout. *Dried currants are traditionally used, but of course, you can use any similar dried fruit. *I have seen versions made with differing spices, including cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and saffron. I have not tried them yet, so if you do, please let me know how it goes! *I use almond paste (or almond butter if I can't find "paste") which is coarser than marzipan and not as sweet. But many modern recipes do call for marzipan. Since I've never used that ingredient I can't advise on how to substitute it here, but feel free to give it a go and let me know how it turns out! *Simnel cake is a traditional English Easter treat. For many people there is a great amount of tradition associated with it, including baking it in the round with 11 balls of marzipan on top.
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