Spelt Mini Simnel Cakes (with cranberries)
Servings: 4 cakes
Ingredients
- 65g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) butter
- 60g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) light brown sugar (I used Demerara)
- 1 egg (medium)
- 60g (¼ cup + 2 tbsp) spelt flour (see note 1)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- 10g (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) ground almonds
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp milk
- 50g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) raisins (see note 2)
- 50g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) cranberries (see note 2)
- icing / powdered sugar (to dust)
- 1 tbsp apricot jam (or use any you like)
- 200g (7 oz) marzipan (see note 3)
Instructions
- Pe-heat the oven to 170°C (350℉).
- I used ready-rolled marzipan, which was already thin. Using a cutter slightly smaller than my cupcake cases, I cut out four circles. I set the remaining marzipan aside.
- Prepare your muffin tins by greasing well, or use cake cases. A good tip: I used foil cases and they made it very easy to get the cakes out (they also don’t need greasing).
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using an electric whisk or food processor. When it’s pale and fluffy, add the egg, then beat again until nice and smooth.
- Combine the flour, ground almonds, spices, baking powder and baking soda, then add to the egg mixture and on the lowest setting, mix just until everything has been incorporated.
- Add the milk and fold in the dried fruit.
- Spoon half the cake mixture equally among the 4 cupcake cases or muffin holes and then with a knife, smooth over the tops until they are fairly even (the mixture is very lumpy due to the fruit, so even it out the best you can).
- Press one of the prepared marzipan circles down into each one. Using the remaining batter, divide equally between the cupcakes, once more smoothing over until you are left with a fairly flat surface and no marzipan is visible.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for around 35 minutes. When ready, the cakes will be a deep brown and an inverted skewer will come out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool completely before carefully removing them from the tin or cases.
- In the meantime, cut out four more circles from the marzipan. Gently push up the edges to make a fluted look. Take the remaining marzipan and roll it into four balls.
- When cooled, warm the jam a little, and then brush over the top of each cake.
- Place the marzipan circles on top of the cakes, and place one ball on top of each cake.
- Lightly dust with icing sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. While I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not tested this recipe with imperial measurements.
- You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
- I chose to use raisins and cranberries, but you could use any dried fruit you like.
- I used shop-bought, ready rolled out marzipan for convenience, but you could make your own.
