- Serves 12 - Ready in 3 hours and 45 minutes (includes 2 hours cooking and 1 hour of cooling) -
Gather together for the Almond Paste (Marzipan)…
Either:
350g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting.
2 sachets of egg white powder (+ 6 tsp warm water per sachet, as stated on packet).
350g ground almonds.
Or:
700g ready-made marzipan (I hate marzipan but I love homemade marzipan).
N.B. this quantity of marzipan makes two 9 inch circles, one to lay in the middle of the cake (before baking) and one to lay on top (after baking), plus enough leftover marzipan to form 11 'disciple' balls for the top of the cake (or use mini eggs if you want to encourage children-over-4 to eat the cake!) The adornments stand for eleven disciples: James, James, Andrew, John, Phillip, Bartholemew, Jude, Peter, Thomas, Matthew and Simon. Judas Escariot, who betrayed Jesus, is traditionally omitted from the cake.
Gather together for the Cake...
200g soft butter (grate / potato peel the butter if it is too cold, it MUST be soft enough).
200g soft brown sugar.
4 free-range medium eggs, beaten.
200g plain flour.
Pinch salt.
1 tsp ground mixed spice.
400g currants ( you could use any dried fruit, but currants make the texture perfect and unique).
75g chopped mixed peel.
Zest from 1 lemon, grated (zest only) - equivalent to 1.5 tsp if you are using zest from the freezer.
Serve with...
1 - 2 tbsp apricot jam (or use 1 - 2 tbsp honey, warmed).
11 mini eggs (optional), or use the off-cuts of marzipan to form 11 balls - these adornments represent the eleven loyal disciples of Jesus.
Get cooking…
1. To make the marzipan (or skip to step 3 if you are using ready-made marzipan), sieve the 350g of icing sugar into a medium/large bowl. Add the 350g of ground almonds and stir. Make a well in the centre and drizzle in the rehydrated egg powder (2 sachets plus 12 tsp / 50g of warm water, previously-whisked in a small bowl with a fork until smooth and frothy).
2. Using a wooden spoon and then using your (clean) hands, mix until the rehydrated-egg is incorporated and the marzipan is in one lump. Add a couple more teaspoons of warm water if the mixture is too dry to stick together.
3. Sprinkle a little icing sugar onto TWO clean chopping boards (or even better on two reusable silicone mats as the mats are flexible, making it very easy to transfer the marzipan later on). Divide the marzipan lump in ½ and roll and cut out TWO circles, both 9 inches in diameter (if it is a 9 inch cake tin you have), using your cake tin base as a template.
4. Gather the off-cuts of marzipan together and divide into 11 equal pieces (weigh on the scales if you want precision), roll each between your palms to form circular balls, these are the disciples which eventually adorn the top of the cake!
5. Cover the marzipan circles and the 11 balls with a damp tea towel (so they don't dry out and crack) and set aside.
6. Preheat the oven to 140 C (120 C fan) or Gas 1. Base-line and then butter-grease (the base and sides of) a 9 inch cake tin. Use grease proof paper, or better still use a cut-to-size reusable baking liner (such as this from Lakeland).
7. Next make the cake; cream the 200g of softened butter and the 200g of soft brown sugar together for two minutes until fluffy.
8. Add the 4 beaten eggs and sieve in the 200g of plain flour, the pinch of salt and the 1 tsp of mixed spice. Mix well.
9. Finally, add the 400g of currants, the 75g of mixed peel and the grated lemon zest from one lemon (equivalent to 1.5 tsp of zest) and stir into the mixture.
10. Spoon approximately half the cake mixture into the greased and lined 9-inch cake tin.
11. Smooth this half of the mixture gently with a spoon and cover with ONE circle of marzipan - to act as a horizontal mid-layer within the cake. (The other circle of marzipan will be added after baking.)
12. Add the rest of the cake mixture to the tin and smooth the top leaving a slight dip in the centre (so the top ends up being nice and flat, even though the cake will rise a bit).
13. Bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours. Don't over-bake this cake, or else it will be crumbly and dry. It is supposed to be sticky and delicious.
14. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool (in the tin) for 1 hour on a wire rack.
15. After the hour has passed, gently remove the tin.
16. Once out of its tin, brush the top of the partly-cooled cake, sparingly, with the 1 - 2tbsp of apricot jam or runny / warmed honey.
17. Gently place the remaining 9 inch marzipan circle on top of the cake. It will be nice ad flexible as it's been under a damp tea towel. GENTLY roll over the marzipan with a rolling pin to flatten it, pay particular attention to smoothing the edges. You can moisten any cracks with some of the leftover apricot jam / honey and smooth them down make them less noticeable!
18. Distribute the 11 disciple marzipan balls on the cake (see the very top of the page to read about why there are 11), in a similar way to the numbers on a clock face. If you are using mini eggs instead, WAIT until after grilling to add them!
19. Preheat the grill to high. Grill the cake for 1-2 minutes, until the top of the marzipan begins to brown. Keep an eye on it so you don't burn it - it will appear to be doing nothing and then colour suddenly (cover the centre with a piece of foil if it browns much faster).
20. Leave the cake in a cool room on a wire rack to finish cooling properly before placing in an air-tight container
21. Enjoy! This cake will keep for three days - perfect for the long Easter weekend, or slice it and freeze it in an airtight container.