Easter Desserts – Lemon Drizzle Simnel Cake
When I was little, I loved marzipan. So much so, while visiting my Nan-Nan (who made the most wonderful wedding cakes), I decided to peel the icing from a cake waiting to be decorated so I could get to the delicious marzipan underneath!
I don’t remember ever seeing my Nan-Nan so angry before that day, or since! She gave me a good telling-off and a slap on the bottom.
Unsurprisingly, I lost the urge to eat marzipan again and steered well clear of it all these years! That was until I tried a small taste of this lemon drizzle simnel cake and found it to be really lovely.
I’m taking this as a sign from my beloved late Nan-Nan that it’s time to embrace my love of marzipan again because my other favourite thing to eat was her absolutely wonderful lemon drizzle cake!
Lemon Drizzle Simnel Cake
Ingredients
- Oil, for the tin
- 250g butter, softened
- 250g golden caster sugar, plus 50g for the topping
- 2 large lemons, zested and juiced
- 3 large eggs
- 200g plain flour
- 100g ground almonds
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- 50ml milk
- 100g mixed dried fruit
- 300g marzipan, chilled
- 50g icing sugar
Method
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
- Oil and line a 20cm x 30cm baking tin with baking parchment.
- Put the butter, sugar and most of the lemon zest in a bowl and beat together until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating constantly, then add the flour, almonds and baking powder.
- Keep mixing until you have a smooth batter.
- Stir in the milk and dried fruit.
- Tip half of the batter into the tin and level with the back of a spoon or a spatula.
- Coarsely grate half of the marzipan over the batter to create an even layer.
- Carefully cover with the rest of the batter trying not to disturb the marzipan.
- Level the top and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- If any wet batter is on the skewer, cook for a further 5 minutes and check again.
- Mix the remaining caster sugar with a quarter of the lemon juice and drizzle over the cake while still warm.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin.
- Mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a drizzly icing. 2-3 tsp should be enough.
- Drizzle the icing over the cake.
- Divide the rest of the marzipan into eleven balls and place on the cake.
- Sprinkle with the remaining lemon zest.
The cake will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
