Simnel Cake

Serves 8/10
Preheat the oven to 150c/300f/gas 2

Ingredients

3 x large happy eggs
175g butter/margarine
175g golden caster sugar
225g self raising flour
½ teaspoon mixed spice
100g glace cherries
425g mixed dried fruit
Finely grated zest from an orange and a lemon
2 270 gm packets Marzipan

1 x 18cm spring-form cake tin

Method

Grease the sides of the cake tin and line the bottom with some non-stick greaseproof paper

Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale- add the eggs slowly one at a time.

Add the flour, mixed spice and the fruit zest and mix well

Fold in the dried fruits with a metal spoon.

Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin

Roll out one of the packets of marzipan into a circle just smaller than the tin; put this onto
the top of the cake mixture.

Spoon the rest of the cake mixture on top

Bake in the centre of the oven for 2.5 hours- until firm and golden

Cool in the tin then turn out

Using the other marzipan make 11 balls and stick these on the top of the cake with a little warm jam