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This traditional Gluten Free Simnel Cake is the perfect bake for Easter or Mother’s Day. A rich fruit cake with a secret layer of marzipan and a delicious burnished marzipan topping. It’s a traditional bake for Lent – and now you can make it completely gluten free!
Table of Contents
What you need to know at-a-glance:
- What is Simnel Cake? A rich fruit cake packed with spices, glacé cherries and almonds, with a secret layer of marzipan and even more marzipan on top.
- Did You Know: Simnel cake is traditionally made during Lent, and is decorated with 11 balls of marzipan – said to represent the 11 apostles.
- Flour of choice: This gluten free Simnel Cake recipe works with any supermarket blend of plain gluten free flour. I usually use FREEE – use a 1:1 flour in the US.
- Anything else? My gluten-eating friend Phil is absolutely obsessed with this cake. I felt that was important for you to know because Phil loves allll the gluten.
This Simnel Cake Recipe is traditionally made during Lent – apparently it was made half way through the 40 days as a respite from fasting.
This usually falls around Mother’s Day, so the cake has become synonymous with both Easter and Mothering Sunday. And now us gluten free folk can enjoy it too!
Taste-wise, my gluten free simnel cake recipe is like a lighter version of a gluten free Christmas cake – only you don’t soak the fruits in alcohol beforehand.
Much like Hot Cross Buns, another traditional Easter baking project, it is rich and fruity and beautifully spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, coriander and allspice.
More Gluten Free Easter Bakes
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card above for this gluten free simnel cake. But here’s an overview of some of the main ingredients and any swaps you can make.
- Mixed Dried Fruit: I tend to use the pre-mixed bags which are a mixture of sultanas, raisins, currants and candied peel, along with glacé cherries.
- Mixed Spice: This is a mixture of spices, in the UK you can buy it premixed. It contains a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, coriander nutmeg and sometimes mace.
- Light Brown Sugar
- Unsalted Butter: For dairy free, use an equivalent such as Stork baking block.
- Eggs
- Gluten Free Plain Flour: Any plain flour mix such as Freee, Juvela, M&S or Asda will work in this cake. You want a plain, all purpose or 1:1 gluten free baking flour mixture.
- Xanthan Gum: A tiny bit goes a long way and this will help prevent the cake from becoming too crumbly.
- Baking Powder: Ensure you use a gluten free baking powder.
- Ground Almonds
- Marzipan: Use white marzipan or yellow marzipan, depending on which you prefer.
How to Make Gluten Free Simnel Cake
Here are some step-by-step photos to guide you through my gluten free simnel cake recipe and show you how easy it is to make!
Add the mixed fruit, orange zest and juice and the mixed spice to a saucepan along with 2 tbsp water.
Place on a low heat and cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. (Alternatively you can microwave in a bowl for 2 minutes.)
Take a third of the marzipan and roll it out to cut a disc the size of your 8-inch/20cm cake tin (use the cake tin base as a template).
Grease your cake tin with butter and then double-line it with baking paper, approximately an inch higher than the cake tin.
This will help stop the cake and marzipan burning. Preheat the oven to 150C / Fan 130C / Gas Mark 2.
Add the butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until creamed.
In a separate bowl, mix the gluten free flour, baking powder and xanthan gum to combine.
Add this to the butter/sugar mixture along with the ground almonds and eggs. Beat again with the electric whisk until just combined – don’t over-mix.
Pour in the fruits and all the juices from the pan, plus the cherries, and fold this into the cake mix using a spatula.
Spoon half the mixture into the lined cake tin and smooth out in an even layer. Lay the circle of marizpan on top and spoon the rest of the cake batter on top, smoothing the surface.
Bake in the oven for 2 hours, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the tin before decorating.
When the cake has cooled, remove the in and paper and brush the top with apricot jam. Reserve 165g of the marzipan and roll the rest out, cutting a disc the size of the cake.
Lay on top of the cake and gently flatten – you can use your fingers to crimp the edges if you like.
Divide the remaining 165g of marzipan into 11 equal-sized balls – if you want to weigh them, they’ll be 15g each. Shape them into balls and top your cake with them.
To finish, either use a blow torch to caramelise the marzipan or place the cake under a hot grill for 1-2 minutes until just starting to burnish.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: The finished gluten free simnel cake can be kept in an airtight container and will last 1-2 weeks at room temperature. Don’t put it in the fridge, it’ll dry out!
TO FREEZE: You can freeze the fruit cake before decorating if making ahead of time, then defrost to finish. Slices of cake can also be frozen between sheets of baking paper (so they don’t stick). Defrost at room temperature to eat.
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Gluten Free Simnel Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 250 g mixed dried fruit and peel, a mixture of sultanas, raisins, currants and candied peel
- 100 g halved glacé cherries
- zest and juice of 1 orange
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 200 g butter, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 175 g gf plain flour
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150 g ground almonds
- 1 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
- 500 g marzipan
Instructions
- Add the mixed fruit, orange zest and juice and the mixed spice to a saucepan along with 2 tbsp water. Place on a low heat and cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. (Alternatively you can microwave in a bowl for 2 minutes.)
- Take a third of the marzipan and roll it out to cut a disc the size of your 8-inch/20cm cake tin (use the base as a template). Wrap the leftover marzipan and any offcuts and place to one side for decorating later.
- Grease your cake tin with butter and then double-line it with baking paper, approximately an inch higher than the cake tin. This will help stop the cake and marzipan burning. Preheat the oven to 150C / Fan 130C / Gas mark 2.
- Add the butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until creamed.
- In a separate bowl, mix the gluten free flour, baking powder and xanthan gum to combine. Add this to the butter/sugar mixture along with the ground almonds and eggs. Beat again with the electric whisk until just combined – don't over-mix.
- Pour in the fruits and all the juices from the pan, plus the cherries, and fold this into the cake mix using a spatula.
- Spoon half the mixture into the lined cake tin and smooth out in an even layer. Lay the circle of marzipan on top and spoon the rest of the cake batter on top, smoothing the surface.
- Bake in the oven for 2 hours, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the tin before decorating.
- When the cake has cooled, remove the in and paper and brush the top with apricot jam. Reserve 165g of the marzipan and roll the rest out, cutting a disc the size of the cake (using the cake pan base as a template again!). Lay on top of the cake and gently flatten – you can use your fingers to crimp the edges if you like.
- Divide the remaining 165g of marzipan into 11 equal-sized balls – if you want to weigh them, they'll be 15g each. Shape them into balls and top your cake with them.
- To finish, either use a blow torch to caramelise the marzipan or place the cake under a hot grill. Keep an eye on it – it takes 1-2 minutes but once it starts to turn brown it will quickly burn if you look away for even a second!
Video
Notes
- Need more help? Scroll down below this recipe card for step-by-step photos, ideas for any ingredients substitutions and all my FAQs about this simnel cake.
- Storing: This cake keeps really well – for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze it in slices to defrost and enjoy at leisure!
- Dairy Free? Simply swap the butter for a dairy free margarine like Stork to make a gluten and dairy free simnel cake.
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups/imperial. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and a little comment sharing how much you loved this Gluten Free Simnel Cake recipe! It really helps to support my website and get my recipes out there to everyone who needs them! xx
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this gluten free simnel cake recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
A Simnel Cake is a traditional fruit cake which dates back to Medieval Times, thought to originally have been made using a leavened bread. Now it is more of a light fruit cake, decorated with marzipan, which is eaten during Lent.
With a simnel cake recipe, the fruits are heated with orange juice and mixed spice before being added to a cake made from ground almonds and gluten free flour. It creates a lighter fruitcake than its Christmas counterpart – and it also has a layer of marzipan cooked into the centre of the cake.
You may think the marzipan balls on top of this cake are just to look pretty but they do have a meaning. They are designed to represent Jesus’ disciples – minus Judas. However occasionally you may see 12 balls, with the extra representing Christ.
When making my simnel cake recipe I tend to weigh the balls out so they are all even. I’d hate for them to be all lopsided and uneven!
I was gifted a small kitchen blow torch for Christmas a few years ago and it’s perfect for scorching the marzipan. However you don’t need a blow torch to make a simnel cake! You can simply burn the marzipan under the grill.
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It’s in the oven and I have every faith it will work as your recipes are great! But I’ve just found the cherries I bought, very much not added to the mix! Completely forgot them. Please can you mention when to add them in the method, as a reminder for other forgetful people like me. Otherwise, it was beautifully easy to follow
I’m sure it was delicious! Have updated to try make it a bit clearer x
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please leave a comment and let me know! This has become our new favourite Easter bake – I’m about to make this year’s one now! 😀 xx