Simnel, English Easter cake
In the English Easter cake Simnel, as well as in the Russian Easter cake, chopped dried fruits or candied fruits are added. But the basis of his dough is not flour, but crushed almonds and ginger. Thanks to this circumstance, as well as a thick layer of icing, the cake does not get stale for a long time.
Ingredients
Servings 12- almonds - 200 g
- ginger root - a piece 2 cm long
- butter - 200 g plus for the form
- sugar - 200 g
- wheat flour - 100 g
- baking powder - 1 tsp
- peel of 1 orange - 1 orange
- eggs - 5 pcs.
- raisins - 100 g
- to the basket - 100 g
- orange liqueur - 8 tbsp. l.
- egg (protein) - 2 pcs.
- lemon juice - 1 tsp
- powdered sugar - 450 g
Cooking
Step 1
Grind the almonds into flour. Finely grate the ginger. Whisk butter with sugar. Add flour, baking powder, almonds, ginger and zest. To stir thoroughly. Whisk the eggs. Continuing to knead the dough, pour in the egg mass in a thin stream.
Step 2
Pour boiling water over dried fruits, leave for 10 minutes, drain in a colander. Cut dried apricots into small pieces. Add raisins, dried apricots and orange liqueur to the dough.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a round heat-resistant form with a diameter of 24-26 cm with oil, place a circle of parchment on the bottom. Put the dough into the form. Bake for 1 hour, then cover with a sheet of foil and bake for another hour. Take the mold out of the oven. Let the cake cool completely, then remove it from the mold.
Step 4
Prepare frosting. Beat egg whites with lemon juice. While continuing to beat, gradually add the powdered sugar. The frosting should be fairly thick.
Step 5
Postpone 4 tbsp. l. glaze. Put the rest on a sheet of parchment and carefully roll into a thin layer. This is to ensure that the top of the cake is absolutely smooth. You can also simply coat the cake with icing, smoothing the surface with a narrow spatula.
Step 6
Cover the cake with a layer of glaze, smooth it with wet hands. Brush the sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Decorate the surface of the cupcake with chocolate eggs and fresh spring flowers.