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Gluten Free Easter Simnel Slices Recipe
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Gluten Free Easter Simnel Slices

Delicious and rich, these gluten free Simnel Slices are an individual portion sized version of the traditional Simnel Cake - the perfect centre piece for the Easter table. Also easy to make dairy and egg free following the simple ingredient substitutions and instructions.
Prep Time2 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time4 hours 40 minutes
Course: Seasonal, Tea Time
Cuisine: Dairy Free
Keyword: Easter, Traditional
Servings: 8 slices
Calories: 666kcal
Author: Glutarama

Ingredients

  • 450 g dried mixed fruit
  • 50 g ground almonds you can keep this out if you'd rather
  • 200 g gluten free plain flour I used Doves Farm
  • 2 tsp mixed spice (½ clove, ½ nutmeg, ½ cinnamon, ½ ginger)
  • 1 tbsp treacle
  • 100 g dark brown sugar
  • 150 g butter or dairy free alternative, I use Flora blocks
  • 2 egg(s) or flaxseed eggs [see notes]
  • 150 ml orange juice option to use brandy or another spirit.
  • 500 g marzipan white or yellow, although white looks more elegant in this case.
  • 2 tbsp apricot jam to make your decoration stick.

Instructions

  • Add the mixed fruit and ground nuts (if using them) to a large bowl and soak in the orange juice for a couple of hours to plump them up encouraging a super moist fruit cake.
    TIP: if you can't wait 2hrs, then pop the soaked fruit in the microwave with a cover for 2mins, the steam will plump up the fruit quickly, then allow to cool for 10 mins before adding the mixture.
  • While your fruit is soaking/cooling, prepare the cake tin. I use a Multi-size Cake Tin, this cake mixture makes an 7inch/20cm square cake, ensure that you have double, if not treble lined the tin (for example, my mum always wraps newspaper around her round Christmas Cakes) the idea is to insulate as much as possible to reduce risk of the cake mixture catching and burning.
  • Preheat oven to 150°C | 130°C fan | 300°F | Gas 2.
  • In a mixer, cream the butter, sugar, treacle until paler in colour, then add the eggs and beat thoroughly.
  • Add the flour and spices, continue to beat until light and fluffy then add the fruit (including the soaking juice). If not using a electronic mixer, this is when you'll need strong arms!
  • Spoon ½ the fruit cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth with the back of a spoon or spatula.
  • Now take 200g of marzipan and roll out to ½ cm (5mm) thickness before cutting into a square. The square needs to be smaller than your cake tin so about 6inches square. This is because you don't want the marzipan to be too close to the end of the cake or else it will seep out down the size when baking and burn.
  • place the marzipan square on the 1st layer of cake dough and press down firmly round the edges so it sinks into the mixture.
  • Spoon the remaining mixture into the tin on top of the marzipan and smooth the top down, add a square of greaseproof to the top of the cake to prevent it from burning.
  • Cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for 2 and a half hours. Checking after two by pricking with a cocktail stick or skewer.
  • Remove from oven when inserted skewer comes out clean and allow to cool slightly before removing the baking paper.
  • Allow to cool completely before decorating.

To decorate the slices

  • Trim any over baked/caramelised edges of the cooled square of fruit cake.
  • Now cut into 8 rectangular slices (two rows of 4). Don't worry about any off cuts, you can use these for my Simnel Ice cream recipe, enjoy them with a cup of tea or freeze them for later.
  • Next, brush the cut slices of cake generously with apricot jam to allow the marzipan to stick.
  • Roll out the remaining marzipan and using a ruler measure the length and width of your slices. Cut the marzipan into 8 rectangular sections that will fit snuggly onto of each cake slice. Press down gently so they stick.
  • With any offcuts, cut out some pretty shapes to decorate the tops of your slices, I happen to have little flowers cutter.
  • To caramelise the tops of each slice you have two choices. firstly you could pop them under a preheated hot grill, DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THEM! Remove from heat once the edges start to 'catch' (colour).
  • The second and much less stressful option is to use a chefs blow torch.

Notes

to make 1 flax egg you need the following ingredients:
- 1tbsp ground flax seed
- 3tbsp water
- 1tsp psyllium husk (optional but does add elasticity to baking)

Nutrition

Calories: 666kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 336mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 755IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 3mg