A British cake, perfect for Mother’s Day

The cake’s roots can be traced back to the Romans (and perhaps even the ancient Greeks)

By: Pat Tanner

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Illustration by Judy Martin

   Although it really has nothing to do with our American celebration of Mother’s Day, which falls on Sunday, I love the sentiment behind and history of a British tradition called Mothering Sunday, the centerpiece of which is a beautiful, rich, fruit-filled confection called simnel cake.
   The word "simnel" comes from the Latin "simila," which means fine wheat flour, from which we get the word "semolina." The cake’s roots can be traced back to the Romans (and perhaps even the ancient Greeks), but by medieval times Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, when parishioners went to mass at the "mother church" of the parish to make Lenten offerings.
   Eventually, though, in the British Isles, Mothering Sunday also came to be the one Sunday in the year when young women in household service were given the day off by their employers to visit their mothers. They would traditionally go home carrying a simnel cake as a gift, sometimes made by the girls, sometimes a gift from their employers.
   These days, simnel cakes are eaten in England on Easter Sunday, when they are decorated with eleven balls of marzipan (almond and sugar paste) meant to represent all of Christ’s apostles except Judas. I think simnel cakes are just right for our Mother’s Day, because not only are they delicious, festive, and take some effort to make, but because they are often decorated with feminine touches. A colorful, wide ribbon can be wrapped around the perimeter, and crystallized violets or pansies added to the marzipan top.
   The recipe below is adapted from a Web site that serves the U.K and Ireland. Since purists consider homemade almond paste far superior to the canned kind, and not as sweet as marzipan, I’ve included a recipe from Betsy Oppenneer’s "Celebration Breads." In that book, she gives a recipe for an alternative simnel cake, a sweet yeast bread with almond paste filling. The cake in the recipe that follows can be made two days in advance. Note that the batter will completely fill a standard eight-inch cake pan.
SIMNEL CAKE
FOR MOTHERING SUNDAY
Adapted from www.thefoody.com
   1½ sticks (6 ounces) butter, softened
   ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
   3 eggs
   2 cups all-purpose flour
   ½ teaspoon baking powder
   ½ teaspoon salt
   1 pound mixed dried fruit, such as raisins, golden raisins, and currants
   2 ounces glaceed cherries, chopped
   1 teaspoon allspice (or a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg)
   Grated rind of 1 lemon
   2 tablespoons milk
   2 tablespoons brandy
   20 ounces marzipan or almond paste (available in cans or tubes, or see recipe below)
   ¼ cup apricot jam, strained through a sieve if chunky
   1 egg white, for wash
   
Wide ribbon and/or crystallized flowers for decoration (optional)
   
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake tin with buttered waxed paper.
   2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, adding 1 tablespoon of the flour with last egg.
   3. Sift together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Fold into the butter mixture, along with the dried fruit, chopped cherries, and allspice. Combine thoroughly. Stir in the lemon rind, milk and brandy.
   4. Roll out 6 ounces of the marzipan, between sheets of plastic wrap, to a round shape slightly smaller in circumference than the cake pan. Spoon half of the cake mixture into the prepared pan. Add the round of marzipan. Cover with the remaining cake mixture.
   5. Bake for 1 to 1¼ hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely. Remove waxed paper.
   6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out a piece of marzipan large enough to fit top of cake. Brush top of cake with apricot jam. Press the marzipan in position. Score top of marzipan in a diamond pattern and brush with egg white. Roll the remaining marzipan into 11 equal-sized balls and press around the outer edge of the top of the cake.
   7. Return cake to preheated oven for about 10 minutes, allowing marzipan to brown.
   8. If desired, decorate cake by wrapping a wide ribbon around the edge and placing crystallized (or real, edible) flowers, such as violets or pansies, on the top.
HOMEMADE
ALMOND PASTE
"Celebration Breads"
by Betsy Oppenneer
(Simon & Schuster 2003)
4 cups (1 pound) blanched almonds
   4 cups (1 pound) confectioners’ sugar
   2 egg yolks, optional (these will not be cooked)
   ½ teaspoon almond extract
   2 to 4 tablespoons orange juice
   
1. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the almonds until the oil from the nuts begins to bring the mixture together like a chunky peanut butter. Add the confectioners’ sugar, yolks (if using), and almond extract. Pulse until most of the sugar is absorbed.
   2. Add 2 tablespoons juice and pulse to combine. Remove the top of the processor and remove a pinch of the mixture. If you can roll this mixture into a ball that keeps its shape, then you have added enough liquid. If the mixture is too crumbly, continue to add juice 1 teaspoon at a time until the mixture can keep its shape. This amount can vary a great deal if you are not using the egg yolks. Cover the mixture tightly and set aside.
Pat Tanner can be heard each Saturday morning on "Dining Today with Pat Tanner" on MoneyTalk AM 1350 and over www.moneytalk1350.com from 9 to 10 a.m.