Makes: 1 x 20 cm round cake

Equipment: 20 cm round, deep, loose-bottom cake tin

This Simnel cake goes down a treat in the lead up to Easter. Apart from upgrading many of the ingredients for better health, our twist is the addition of goji berries and a few of our favourite spices. The use of dried berries and fruits adds chew and important fibre. Don’t put too much on your plate – this is a rich one!

175 g unsalted butter

175 g coconut sugar

3 eggs

175 g spelt flour

175 g sultanas

90 g dried cranberries

30 g dried goji berries

zest of 1 lemon, grated

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

pinch of salt

To Decorate

Raw marzipan (see below)

Honey or melted butter, for brushing

Edible flowers, such as nasturtiums and

violets, to decorate

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C/

Gas mark 3–4 and line a 20 cm round, deep,

loose-bottom cake tin with baking parchment.

2 Put all the ingredients into a large bowl.

With an electric whisk, beat them together

until well combined.

3 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and

smooth the top. Bake for 1V–2 hours until

a skewer inserted into the middle comes

out clean.

4 Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes

and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

5 Once it’s cool, use the cake tin as a template

to cut out a round disc of raw marzipan.

6 Brush a little melted butter or honey over

the top of the cake and lay the marzipan

disc on top.

7 Use the remaining marzipan to make

11 equal-size balls to decorate the top of

the cake. You can use honey to stick these

on as well.

8 Top the cake with edible flowers such

as nasturtiums and violets.

raw marzipan

Raw Marzipan

GF, DF, V

Our raw marzipan is quick and easy to make, with the maple syrup helping to keep the delicious almond flavour. If you particularly like your marzipan, and I really do, you can also add a few drops of almond extract.

340 g ground almonds

3–4 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2–3 drops of almond extract (optional)

1 Mix all the ingredients together to form

a dough. Wrap in greaseproof paper and chill

until ready to use.

2 Roll out the dough between two sheets of

baking parchment to 2–3 mm. You don’t want

to use flour to stop it sticking to the surface,

and the paper will also make it easier to

pick up.

Modern Baker: A New Way To Bake by Melissa Sharp with Lindsay Stark (Ebury Press, RRP £26). Photography by Laura Edwards. Available from amazon.co.uk