Here’s my take on a simnel cake in cupcake form. I’m not a huge marzipan fan, unlike Frey & Gav! But these were fruity and not overpowered by it.
Printable recipe here
Ingredients
225g self raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp baking powder
115g soft brown sugar
115g soft butter or spread
225g dried fruit (I used 50g cranberries & 175g mixed dried fruit)
2 medium eggs
2 tbsp milk
225g marzipan
chocolate eggs to decorate
A little apricot jam
Makes 12 large cupcakes.
Line a muffin tray with cases. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/GM4
Roll out the marzipan to an even thickness of about 2-3 mm. Cut out 12 rounds of about 6cm wide, these will be going in the centre of the cakes. Also cut out 12 to go on the top of the finished cakes. I liked the look of the flower cutters so used those for mine.
Place all the ingredients except the marzipan, jam & chocolate eggs in a bowl and beat well, either with a mixer or by hand, until the ingredient are well mixed and creamy. Spoon some mix into the cases so it’s approx 2cm deep. Then lay a marzipan round on top and flatten down slightly then continue spooning the mix on top of the marzipan layer until evenly distributed.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden & firm to the touch. An inserted skewer should come out clean (just remember you have marzipan in there too!)
Transfer to a cooling rack. When cooled brush the tops with a little apricot jam and place on the marzipan discs, add further decorations as required.
They will keep for a few days, if they last that long! Enjoy.