Recipe by Helen White – from her blog helskitchen.co.uk.
Chocolate aside, there’s some traditional tasty flavours knocking about at Easter that bring not just joy to the palate but fill the kitchen with intoxicating, spicy warmth. These simple Simnel biscuits celebrate all these lovely spicy, citrussy, almondy vibes in a crunchy snap.
Makes: c. 35 biscuits
Takes: c. 20 mins + 2 hours chilling the dough (or you can leave it in the fridge overnight). You can also soak the fruit overnight too for an extra kick.
Bakes: c. 12-15 mins. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray. You will also need a cutter of your choice – I opted for a spring flower one.
Ingredients
- 100g currants/raisins
- 2 tblsp PX sherry
- 225g butter
- 220g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
- 100g marzipan
- 50g mixed peel
- 50g ground almonds
- 450g plain flour
Method
- First soak your currants/raisins in 2 tblsp PX sherry.
- While these are soaking, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs one at a time followed by the zest and spices.
- Grate in the marzipan (using a box grater so you get those little strips) and stir this in.
- Next fold in the flour then stir in the almonds and mixed peel. Finally, drain and dry the fruit as best possible and stir this in. Bring it all together to form a soft dough ball, wrap this in cling film and pop it into the fridge for two hours to chill.
- When you are ready to bake, dust a clean worktop with a little flour and roll your dough out to c. 3-4mm thickness, then cut out your biscuits.
- Pop each one on the baking tray with a little space between. When the tray is full, pop it into the oven.
- You are looking for a dark golden colour on these. When they are cooked, transfer to a cooling rack to crisp-up and get going with the remainder of the dough.
Check out our Easter Wine, and Food pairings.