Name: Bury Simnel Cake
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: almonds ¾ lb. a few bitter ones, if liked; currants 4 lb.; a little milk if necessary.; eggs 5; candied lemon peel ½ lb.; cinnamon ½ oz.; nutmeg ½ oz.; sugar 1½ lb.; salts of ammonia 1 oz.; lard ½ lb.; butter ½ lb.; Flour 2½ lb.

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
2 hr

Appears in

Good Things in England

By Florence White

Published 1932

About

Mrs. Huggins, The Rowans, Four Oaks, Warwickshire, writes in March, 1931: ‘Mid-Lent or Mothering Sunday is kept in Lancashire (even now I believe) by children visiting their mothers and taking the present of a cake, the time-honoured Simnel cake.

‘The following recipe has been handed down for many generations — possibly for centuries—in the family of a pastry cook of Bury, and was at one time a trade secret. It is the recipe of the original cake.’

Mrs.