Easter Baking

Last month we asked Jane Rawson who was one of our former chefs at Gloucester Avenue, when we first opened, to come back into our kitchen and bake some Simnel cakes for Easter. With a hop skip and a jump she bounced back in and started to bake these wonderful cakes. I ran about to find ribbon and decorations, Mr James was in charge of packing and wrapping and hey presto we had ourselves a mini production line. Jane has an effortless style around baking and we are thrilled with the results.

Simnel cake is a light fruit cake, similar to a Christmas cake, covered in marzipan, then toasted on top, and eaten during the Easter period. A layer of marzipan or almond paste is also baked into the middle of the cake. On the top of the cake, around the edge, are eleven marzipan balls to represent the true disciples of Jesus; Judas is omitted. Simnel cakes have been known since medieval times, and were originally a Mothering Sunday tradition, when young girls in service would make one to be taken home to their mothers on their day off. The word simnel probably derived from the Latin word simila, meaning fine, wheaten flour with which the cakes were made.

They are in the shops now and retail at £9.95 for a small 600g cake or £19.95 for a 1.3 kilo large cake.

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