Simnel cake… according to the National Mark

The National Mark was a government scheme in the 1930’s, a laudable scheme to improve the quality of food for the nation, and to encourage farmers and producers to keep a high standard, and the housewives to buy only National Mark goods because of that… I say housewives, because that is who the National Mark Calender of Cooking was aimed at.

Easter is approaching, so my thoughts are turning to traditional fare… such as Simnel cake

• ¾ lb National Mark flour
• 4 National Mark eggs
• 8 oz butter
• 8 oz sugar
•  12 oz currants
• 8 oz sultanas
• 6 oz mixed peel
• 4 oz raisins
• ½ teaspoonful grated nutmeg
• pinch of mixed spice
• 1 teaspoonful baking powder
• almond paste
• salt

1. line an 8″ cake tin with well-greased paper
2. prepare the dry ingredients in the usual way by cleaning and picking the fruit, stoning the raisins and cutting them in half, and chopping the peel
3. sieve the flour on a clean paper with the grated nutmeg, baking powder, mixed and a pinch of salt
4. put the butter and sugar into a basin, working them together with a wooden spoon until they resemble whipped cream
5. beat each egg separately into the butter and sugar
6. stir in the flour gradually, adding some of the mixed fruit alternately with the flour
7. when the mixture id of the right consistency – a little milk can be added if necessary – and all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, put half the mixture into the cake tin
8. roll out some of the almond paste until it is ½ inch thick, place the cake tin on top of the paste and cut out a round slightly smaller than the tin. Place the almond paste on top of the mixture in the tin, and then add the remaining mixture
9. bake in a moderate oven at a temperature approximately 340°F for about 3½ hours.
10. When cold decorate the top of the cake with almond paste, and brown it lightly under a grill

How interesting – we no longer have to clean or pick our dried fruit, nor take out the pips from raisins; I can’t understand why the flour is sieved onto a paper, and these days we would use an electric beater for the butter and sugar – they must have had amazing arm muscles! We always decorate our cakes with eleven balls of marzipan for the eleven true disciples… I wonder when that custom started?