This gin-spiked Simnel cake is the perfect boozy bake for Easter!
Mar 30, 2023
Easter simply would not be the same without a big slice of marzipan-strewn Simnel cake to enjoy with a cocktail or two as you celebrate the holiday, especially when the Simnel cake in question is our boozy, gin-spiked version.
This recipe will have gin fans drooling!
What is Simnel cake?
If you didn’t already know, Simnel cake is a fruit cake traditionally served around Easter, usually on Easter Sunday.
It differs from other fruitcakes in its use of marzipan (or almond paste), of which, one layer runs through the middle of the cake and another is layered on top. 11 marzipan balls are also traditionally used to decorate Simnel cake - one for each disciple of Jesus, minus Judas, as Easter is traditionally a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after he is betrayed by Judas and later crucified.
Simnel cake is often flavoured with a spice mix called Mixed Spice in the UK. For our recipe, we have broken Mixed Spice down into some of our favourite spice ingredients but feel free to use 1 heaped tbsp of Mixed Spice instead of our spice mix.
Our version of the is tasty bake is spiked with lots of delicious gin, which the dried fruits are soaked in and the marmalade element is mixed with. Those rich notes of the juniper work so well with the sweet, syrupy dried fruit flavours and the warm spices that fragrance the cake. It’s a truly scrumptious twist that we know no gin lover will be able to resist.
250ml gin
250g butter
200g soft light brown sugar
175g flour, sifted
4 eggs
100g ground almond
1tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp vanilla extract
250g dried fruit, roughly chopped into small, even pieces - we like a mix of cranberries, apricots, raisins and sultanas
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 ground ginger
1/2 tsp mace
1/2 tsp allspice
500g marzipan, bought or homemade (see below)
2 heaped tbsps of marmalade (apricot jam can work here too)
Place your dried fruit in a bowl with 200ml of the gin. Preheat your oven to 150c. Roll out half your marzipan between two pieces of clingfilm into a 5mm-thick disc that is as big as the bottom of your cake tin - we recommend using a tin with a loose bottom.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next - the mixture may look like it has split at first but it will come together as you mix. When the eggs are all mixed in, add the vanilla extract, orange zest, lemon zest and the gin-soaked fruit along with any residual gin left in the bowl. Stir all of the wet ingredients together.
3. In a different bowl, combine the flour, spices, baking soda and ground almond. Mix together so everything is evenly combined.
4. Using a spatula, fold half of the dry mixture into the wet. Once the first half is incorporated, fold in the second half of the dry mixture. The trick here is to work the mixture as little as possible, so fold tenderly and only until you can see no more dry mixture.
5. Line your cake tin with butter and grease-proof paper and then add half of the cake mixture. Spread evenly and then place the disc of marzipan on top. On top of the layer of marzipan, add the remaining cake mixture and spread evenly to make a level surface. Bake in the oven for between 1 1/2 and 2 hours or until you can pull a skewer out of the cake and it stays clean.
6. When the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for 10 - 15 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack and removing any grease-proof paper that is on the bottom (now the top). Leave to cool.
7. While the cake cools, roll out the rest of your marzipan between two sheets of clingfilm until it is around 5mm thick. Trim the marzipan so that it will just cover the very top of the cake and roll the trimmings and any other remaining marzipan into balls to decorate the top - traditionally there are eleven balls but make as many as you like.
8. When the cake is fully cooled, mix the rest of the gin with the marmalade and brush the top of the cake with a generous layer of the marmalade before laying the marzipan disc on top of the cake and adding the marzipan balls to decorate. You can also crimp the edge of the marzipan.
Optional: Many Simnel cake recipes call for you to grill the marzipan top to the cake. To do this, simply place the cake under a hot grill on full heat until there is some colouration. Be very careful not to burn the marzipan.
How do you make your own marzipan at home?
Making your own marzipan is actually very easy to do.
There are lots of very different recipes out there, but for ours, you simply need to whisk 125g of icing sugar and 125g of golden caster sugar with 1 egg, the juice of 1 orange and 2 tbsp of gin (brandy is often used to make marzipan, but a good barrel-aged gin works brilliantly - we recommend using Campfire Cask Aged Gin which is available on our online shop at this link).
Once they are creamed together, mix in 250g of ground almond. Tip the dough-like mixture onto a piece of clingfilm and roll into a cylinder. Store in the fridge to firm up for at least an hour before using.
