Easter Simnel Cupcakes

Spiced fruit cupcakes with a marzipan centre, almond buttercream and marzipan decoration

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cupcake

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 5

Servings

Calories 605kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and line a cupcake tin with paper cases
Divide the marzipan in 12g pieces and roll into balls using the palms of your hands, set aside
Mix together the butter and light brown soft sugar, ideally using an electric mixer, until smooth and fluffy
Add the eggs, vanilla extract, lemon extract and milk and whisk well
Then gently whisk in the mixed spice, self raising flour and wholemeal self raising flour
Then fold in the mixed dried fruit
Divide half of the mixture between the 12 cupcake cases
Add a marzipan ball into each cupcake and press in
Then cover with the remaining mixture
Bake them for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool completely
Make the buttercream by mixing together the butter and icing sugar, then add the almond extract, and mix until smooth. You can do this by hand or with an electric whisk. If the buttercream is too stiff then you can add more milk to it
Pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake using a piping bag fitted with a nozzle. Or spread on with a spoon
To decorate, divide the marzipan in 12g pieces and roll into balls using the palms of your hands, then brown the tops with a kitchen blowtorch. Or you can place them on a foil covered tray and pop them under the grill briefly - keep a close eye on them as they can go from browned to burnt quickly!
Store in an airtight container in a cool place, eat leftovers within 3 days

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used a baking spread for the cupcakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
If you can't find self raising wholemeal flour, you can use regular self raising flour instead, or use plain wholemeal flour and add 1 tsp baking powder.
Mixed spice is a British spice blend usually containing cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger. If you can't get hold of it, you can use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead. Or try ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp ground nutmeg.
You can get two different types of marzipan - natural and golden. I used golden marzipan for this recipe.
You can swap the mixed dried fruit for dried raisins or dried sultanas if you're not a mixed peel fan.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.