Wednesday 12 March 2008

Getting Ready for Easter?

Easter has been on my mind the last few week, taking part in Bella Enchanted's Easter Basket Swap gave me a chance to enjoy looking around all the Easter goodies out there! Yesterday was spent gathering family's chocolate eggs and I sent off my partners swap parcel.Which I thoroughly enjoyed gathering items for! With Easter on the brain I thought I would share a recipe I found for a traditional Easter Simnel cake with a twist.

Simnel Muffins

250g mixed dried fruits
grated zest and juice 1 medium orange

175g softened butter
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
300g self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
freshly grated nutmeg
5 tbsp milk
175g marzipan
200g icing sugar
2 tbsp orange juice for mixing
or mini eggs

1. Tip the fruit into a bowl, add the zest and juice and microwave on medium for 2 minutes (or leave to soak for 1 hour). Line 12 deep muffin tins with paper muffin cases.


2. Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ 160C/gas 4. Beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, spices and milk until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes) - use a wooden spoon or hand held mixer. Stir the fruit in well.


3. Half fill the muffin cases with the mixture. Divide the marzipan into 12 equal pieces, roll into balls, then flatten with your thumb to the size of the muffin cases. Put one into each muffin case and spoon the rest of the mixture over it. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until risen, golden and firm to the touch. Leave to cool.


4. Beat together the icing sugar and orange juice to make icing thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Drizzle over the muffins and top with a cluster of eggs. Leave to set. Best eaten within a day of making.

This week I made a birthday cake for a friend of my grandmas who turned 88 yesterday, I made this cake for her as a surprise gift. She loves to sew and embroider, I found the beautiful silhouette of a girl sewing which suited Eva nicely.....

Have a good week, I hope you enjoy the recipe,

Priscilla x

14 comments:

Bella Rae said...

You are so talented!! That cake is beautiful. How did you learn to make such beautiful cakes?
The muffins look scrumptious!

Teresa said...

The cake for Eva is beautiful. What pretty muffins. You do such a great job!!

Linda said...

Hi Priscilla, what pretty muffins and they look so delish. Thank you for sharing
I love the birthday cake for Eva, it's lovely. I bet she really enjoyed her surprise. Hugs, Linda

BittersweetPunkin said...

Hi Priscilla...thanks for sharing the recipe..I think I'll try it...but WOW~that cake is GORGEOUS~ You make such lovely cakes....I'm sure Eva is going to LOVE it!!!
Hugs,
Robin

Lolly Jane said...

that's muffins look so yummy! love your site! xo-lolly jane

The Nostalgia Fairy said...

Hi Priscilla,
Love those muffins, thanks for sharing. As for Eva's cake,just stunning, I'm sure she will be delighted with it!!!!!
Hugs,
Sandi x

Sweet Cottage Dreams said...

Eva's cake is gorgeous - I thought at first it was an enamel lid to a cake cover! Wow is it perfect! Great job. She will love it.
Thanks for visiting today.

hugs,
Becky

Lucy Bloom said...

Hi Priscilla, nice to meet you on my blog, hope you'll stop by often. The cake you make is just stunning, Eva must have been delighted.
Enjoy the weekend,
Lucy x

Linda said...

Hi Priscilla, just popping by to say hello. Hope all is well. Linda

Carol said...

Thank you for the recipe I will give it a go. How clever you are your cake is so beautiful and
I love muffins.....
Carol xx

La Tea Dah said...

Pricilla, your cakes are lovely!

Thank you for commenting on my blog today. I'm excited that you will be joining in our tea blog-a-thon. I look forward to your posts and to getting to know you better.

LaTeaDah from Gracious Hospitality

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

That looks delicious!

.. said...

Hi Priscilla,

I love your blog!You do such a great job at it.I have read your blogs for a little while now and am amazed by your talent and creativity.That cake looks amazing!
I just started a blog of my own achocolatekiss.blogspot.com Come by and visit:) P.S. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to learn how to decorate cakes like you do.

La Tea Dah said...

Thank you for the Simnel Muffin recipe --- sounds delicious! Very pretty too!

LaTeaDah

PS: I love the cake too!

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