Very pleased with myself now because after years of jibbing at it I've finally made a Simnel cake. Home-made marzipan, ( of course) and a light fruit cake. Eleven little marzipan balls on top to signify the 11 disciples (no Judas!). There is a layer of marzipan in the middle of the cake and I'm excited to find out if it has remained intact through the cooking process. As I'd left it late to make the cake I did what my Dutch friend always does and boiled the fruit with the butter, sugar and some milk then let it stand for 30 minutes. After that the dried fruit was wonderfully plump so I shall adopt this method for ever.

Trawling the net for a recipe I fancied the look of I learned that Simnel cakes were originally made for Mothering Sunday, or even possibly for the Sunday half way through Lent when everyone was given a day off from their Lenten fast and maids sent home to their mothers with a cake made from flour and fat and any other of the ingredients banned for the rest of the 40 days. In the earliest versions of  the fruit mixture was covered in a flour and water paste and boiled. They turned a mahogany brown and were so hard that, as the story goes, a lady gifted with one thought it was a foot stool and put it to use for years.

I do hope mine doesn't turn out to be that solid.