Vegan Simnel Cake

Vegan Simnel cake - this eggless and dairy free version of the traditional British Easter fruit cake with marzipan is just as good as the original. A light vegan fruit cake is filled with a layer of marzipan and topped with traditional marzipan decorations. The perfect cake for an Easter celebration!

Simnel cake may not be as popular an Easter treat as chocolate eggs and hot cross buns but it is one of my favourite Easter bakes.

I really love fruitcake and could eat marzipan by the block, so this light, moist fruit cake that is both filled and topped with marzipan is just about my ideal cake!

I was really keen to create a vegan Simnel cake recipe that is just as delicious as the original, and I am extremely pleased with how well this one turned out.

It is moist and flavourful, packed with plenty of dried fruit and topped with a generous helping of marzipan. Fruit cake heaven!

What Is Simnel Cake?:

Simnel cake is a traditional bake at Easter in the UK. It consists of a light fruit cake (less rich, heavy and boozy than a Christmas fruit cake) which has a layer of almond marzipan in the middle.

It is topped with another layer of marzipan and 11 balls of marzipan representing the twelve apostles, minus Judas. Though some have 12 balls to include Jesus. Now I'm an atheist but the more marzipan the better I say!

It was actually originally baked by serving girls for their mothers on Mothering Sunday when they were allowed to return home, but for a long time has been associated with Easter instead.

This vegan version is really easy to make and you would never be able to tell that it doesn't contain any eggs or dairy! I adapted it from this recipe from the Great British Bake Off's website.

How To Make Vegan Simnel Cake:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

Start by greasing a deep 20cm/8inch round cake tin and lining it with a DOUBLE layer of baking parchment on both the base and sides - this helps to stop the cake from catching round the edges.

Whisk together plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice (pumpkin spice) in a large bowl.

Add cubed vegan block butter and rub it in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and no lumps of butter remain.

Stir in light brown soft sugar (you can also use dark brown), finely grated orange and lemon zest, mixed dried fruit, dried cranberries and glace cherries until well combined then stir in soy milk to form a batter.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Roll 200g of the marzipan out into an approx 18cm/7inch circle and place it on top of the batter. Spoon the remaining half of the batter on top of the marzipan and spread it level.

Bake the cake for about 1 ½ - 2 hours until firm and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre but not into the marzipan comes out clean.

You'll have to test a few times and use your own judgement on when it is ready, it can be hard to tell because of the marzipan. Cover the cake loosely with tin foil after an hour if the top starts to get too dark.

While the cake is baking make a syrup to brush over it once it is baked, this helps to keep it nice and moist so don't skip it! You can use either orange juice or rum which you heat with sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and brush the top generously with some of the syrup. Leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then very carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack (it is delicate when warm so be gentle!).

Brush the cake all over with the rest of the syrup, you can turn it over and brush some on the underside if you like. Leave it to cool completely then store in an airtight container.

The following day, use some marzipan to make 11 equal sized balls. I used a digital scale to ensure they were all the same size - I went for 15g per ball.

Roll the rest of the marzipan out on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar. Cut around the base of a 23cm/9inch round cake tin (or similar sized plate) with a sharp knife to get an even circle that is slightly larger than the width of the cake.

Place the cake top side down on a plate so the bottom is now the top. Use small scraps of marzipan to fill in any holes to create a totally flat surface. Brush the top of the cake with apricot jam then place the round of marzipan on top.

Use your fingers to crimp around the edge then place the marzipan balls on top in a circle. Use a chefs blowtorch to carefully toast the marzipan. You can also place it under a grill if you don't have a blowtorch but make sure that you keep a really close eye on it!

Toasting the marzipan is totally optional so just skip this step if you are worried  about it!

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

If you want a plain fruit cake then you can omit the marzipan.

You can swap the dried fruit for different kinds as long as you keep the same overall weight. I used a bag of mixed dried fruit (the kind that is sold for fruit cakes - raisins, sultanas, currants and candied peel) and some dried cranberries and glace cherries. Chopped dried apricots, figs and dates would all work well.

I really recommend using the kind of vegan butter/margarine that comes in a foil wrapped block, not the spreadable kind in a tub which has too high a water content for baking. I use Naturli Vegan Block but Stork, Vitalite or Tormor Blocks will all work. In the US something like Earth Balance Buttery Sticks would be the right kind of product to use.

I brush the cake with a sugar syrup when it comes out of the oven which helps to keep it moist. I do not recommend skipping this step.

Ideally you should bake the cake the day before you want to decorate it as it needs to be cold before you add the marzipan decorations and fruit cake takes a long time to cool.

The cake will keep for a week or more in an airtight container at room temperature.

More Vegan Easter Recipes:

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