Easterdeliciousness

I have written before about Simnel cakes, my mother's special recipe which she loved to give to others, often in tiny cake tins. The recipe used less fat and sugar, more eggs and flour, and mixed spice - it also involved lining the tin with three layers of greaseproof paper.

Today, I made Simnel Cupcakes.  12 of them. Half 'normal', half with gluten-free flour (75g flour mixed with a scant teaspoon of baking powder)

150g each of butter, golden brown sugar (or a  mix of white and browns) and self-raising flour, creamed in the usual manner with 2 eggs and 125g of mixed dried fruit and a handful of extra candied orange and lemon peel to add flavour, with a tablespoon or so of lemon juice to loosen the mixture a little.

I piled half the mixture into muffin cases, (a teaspoon or so each case), added a circle of marzipan (pinched off a ball, flattened it in my hands before, 12 times) then piled the remainder on top acirnd baked them for 20 minutes until golden.

When cool, I removed the paper cases (they peeled off SO easily), topped them with circles of marzipan cut out with a medium cookie cutter and 'stuck' onto the cake with a smear of #supposedtobeapricotbutallIhadwasmarmelade, then a small ball in the centre made from the leftovers.

Roughed the marzipan slightly with a fork, then toasted under a hot grill for half a minute.

A bit of a faff...but worth it.