We have returned to London in the glorious throes of spring, with blue skies and brilliant sunshine and the signs of new life throbbing all around us. As we walk through the parks, the lawns and canopy of new leaves in the tree tops seem unnaturally green in their jewel-like hues. The meadows are alive with movement as the bees and butterflies dance over the flowers nodding in the breeze, while birds chase each other through the grasses or from branch to branch.
Today we met with friends for a barbecue at their allotment in north London. There too we could see signs of life stirring – the newly planted seedlings, the blossom on the neighbouring fruit trees, the beginnings of a new construction project that will bear the name of ‘shed’ when it’s complete. I’d pulled some fancy sausages out of the freezer – we’d bought them at Ginger Pig for our ‘winter warmth’ party last November and the leftovers had hibernated in our freezer over the winter. We coupled that with bread and onion and tomato sauce (ketchup) and then followed it with grilled asparagus, bought at Borough Market just yesterday.
(The English asparagus season officially began on 23 April, St George’s Day. Hurray! We adore the stuff in my house and will virtually live on it for the next month – sure you can get it year round, if you’re prepared to buy imported stuff from Peru, but it’s just not the same when it’s not super-fresh, not to mention that it’s not very ethical to air-freight vegetables from the other side of the world.)
Best of all was the dessert … this wonderful simnel cake from Konditor & Cook, one of London’s fabulous cake shops. I fell in love with it for aesthetic of the adorable sugar bees hovering over the crusty almond sunflower but the cake itself was pretty good too. I’d never heard of simnel cake and I thought it must be European – the name sounds German and the cake is heavy on almond paste, which I’ve only previously encountered in the form of marzipan, a German sweet. However, it’s actually a traditional British cake from medieval times.
It’s a fruit cake with almond paste and it’s quite light as far as fruit cakes go – not fluffy and bready like panettone but a long way from the substantial weight of a boiled fruit cake. The almond paste inside the cake kept it moist and I really loved the crunch of the almond glaze icing. The cake is apparently traditional in the UK and Ireland around this time of year. It’s sometimes made with eleven marzipan balls around the outside to represent the true disciples of Christ (omitting Judas) and it also has strong connections with Mothering Sunday (Mother’s Day) as young girls in service (house servants) used to make it for their mothers on their day off. The BBC has a recipe or you could try Delia Smith’s or Nigella Lawson’s version … but you’re on your own if you want to emulate the sugar bees.
I’d love to try this cake from Konditor & Cook, and I’m sure my little one would not hesitate to go for the sugar bees even if she’s terrified of the real thing!
It was delightfully delicious! Thanks for spending such a wonderful, lazy afternoon with us. I particularly enjoyed the singing… xo
i love eating fruit cakes, specially with extra walnuts, almonds and raisins. another favorite of mine is the Dresdner Stollen or German Fruitcake