It was brought to our attention recently that some tea bags are not really biodegradable as they use polypropylene glues to seal the edges of the tea bags. This is only the case for tea bags that are heat sealed in the tea bagging process. The tea bags used in Steenbergs bagged teas do not use polypropylene as they are crimped shut rather than heat sealed. However, there is the metal staple in the tag which is not biodegradable on a short time frame. The long and short of it is that you can chuck your tea bags onto your compost heat without any problem but you need to put your staples either into your recycling or the the bin. In the future, we will remove the staple part of the tea bag. Finally, you can use Steenbergs Loose Leaf Teas which comprise the majority of our range, which have no tea bags, but you have a nice tin that can be refilled with our refill tea packs that come in sizes up to 1kg, or can be recycled. On the downside, Steenbergs organic Fairtrade Mulling Wine sachets are heat sealed and so are not biodegradable easily as they used polypropylene in their manufacture. We will now start looking into whether we can remove this without causing other issues, especially things that may use genetically modified cron starches.
Posts Tagged ‘Fairtrade spices’
Biodegradable Tea Bags
Friday, July 30th, 2010Simple Burger Recipe – Part 1
Monday, June 28th, 2010Saturday, a cold Saturday a few weekends ago that felt like winter but was meant to be almost midsummer. It felt like a good day to start trying to find the Steenberg family’s favourite burger recipe. We tried three recipes which we taste tested simultaneously and our favourite of these is one that’s been flavoured with red onion, salt and pepper. I will give you the recipe below, as well as the other ones that we decided weren’t as good. It’s a start, but I don’t feel that we have got much further than a first step on this quest – we like a burger flavoured with onion and some salt and pepper which is not much different from our standard family recipe for a homemade burger.
Our first cut of a burger recipe:
225g Beef mince
½ Small red onion, finely chopped
½ tsp Finely ground sea salt
¼ tsp Coarsely ground black pepper
Caramelising Red Onions
Take a frying pan, then put in a decent piece of butter and heat this up. Add the chopped up red onion and gently fry for 10 – 15 minutes to lightly caramelise. Remove caramelised red onion with fork or slotted spoon and leave to cool. Add the sea salt and Steenbergs cracked black pepper until well mixed up, and cool down in fridge.
Burger Mix Rolled Into Ball
Put the beef mince into a mixing bowl and then add the red onion and seasonings. With washed hands, mix the mince up thoroughly until all the flavours are well interspersed. Roll up into ball, then cover bowl in clingfilm and put back into the fridge for about 1 hour.
Remove from the fridge, then divide the burger mix into three and shape each half into round flat burgers; I actually found a 8cm / 3 inch metal pastry circle that we had and put the meat into that to 2cm / 1 inch depth. These were then covered with clingfilm and left in fridge again for 1 hour.
Red Onion Burgers Ready To Fry
Leaving the burger mix in the fridge allows the flavours to infuse and spread through the beef mince. You can skip or reduce the time that I took in this section by going straight to the shaped burgers and putting these into the fridge. I would ask that you give the mix at least 30 minutes to let the flavours develop.
In a good, heavy frying pan, heat some sunflower oil until piping hot, then reduce the heat a bit. Put in the burgers and fry until lightly browned on each side, or your perfect level of doneness. For me, this takes about 3 – 4 minutes for each side. Even though it’s a health worker’s nightmare, I am trying to leave the centre warmed but still red in the middle! Leave to settle for about 2 minutes before serving.
We ate these plain as we were trialling the flavours, but serve with your favourite sauces and bread rolls.
Where to next, I think I will vary the level of red onion down a bit and see whether that’s better; perhaps to more like 1 tablespoon of caramelised red onion to 225g meat. After that, I will look at the seasonings in more detail as to whether I can add some flair to them over and above these basic flavours.
For information, the other burger recipes that we tried were the following mixes:
Very basic burger: 337g beef mince, ½ tsp Steenbergs cracked black pepper, ½ tsp finely ground sea salt (too boring in our opinion, but the kids preferred these plainer flavourings)
Alternative onion version: 175g beef mince, ¼ medium white onion,½ tsp finely ground sea salt, ¼ tsp Steenbergs coarsely ground black pepper (tasted a bit sweeter, and perhaps the spice/salt level was better than the red onion burger)
Recipe for Indulgent Coffee Cup Cakes
Friday, May 21st, 2010There’s lots of fuss and carry on about cup cakes and how wonderful they are, so I felt I better try and make some. I was, also, unsure what the actual difference between a cup cake is and a good, old fashioned fairy cake.
Well, the difference is as much about perception as it is about any real change – cup cakes are bigger and to fit in with that extra size the toppings are more indulgent and rich than a classic fairy cake. In addition, the texture and mouth feel of the cake is moister and richer while a fairy cake tends to be lighter and more springy. This is partly to do with the ingredients that add in milk and some plain flour to increase the richness and reduce the airiness of a Yorkshire fairy cake. What do I prefer – I think the answer is a classic one of “horses for courses”, i.e. it depends on the event.
Here’s a good version of a cup cake – a Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cake.
Four Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cakes
Ingredients for the cup cakes:
- 250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened
- 250g/9oz Fairtrade golden caster sugar
- 4 free range eggs
- 45ml/1.5 fl oz espresso coffee or strong Fairtrade black coffee
- 185g/6.5oz organic self-raising flour
- 60g/2oz organic plain flour
- 140ml/5 fl oz milk (full fat please)
Ingredients for the icing:
- 100g/3.5oz mascarpone at room temperature
- 50g/1.75oz Fairtrade milk chocolate
- Chocolate drops or chocolate strands
How to make Steenbergs Fairtrade coffee cup cakes:
Preheat to oven to 180oC/350oF and oil lightly a dozen hole muffin tray.
Make the strong Fairtrade coffee – I used an Ethiopian coffee from Grumpy Mule – and add to the milk. Sieve the organic flours together.
Getting The Ingredients Ready For Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cakes
Put the butter and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Add the free range eggs, one at a time and then add the strong Fairtrade black coffee flavoured milk, and beat until well mixed together. Fold in the sieved organic flours and ensure well mixed through. Stir until smooth.
Divide the cake mixture about two-thirds up a muffin hole (or a muffin sized case and place on baking tray) and bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy the remaining mixture taste by sharing with the kids, or just enjoy yourself while (in this case) the children were playing outside in the garden. Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10 minutes, then tip the muffins out of the muffin pan onto a wire rack to cool, or just place the muffin cases straight onto the wire rack.
For the icing, melt the milk chocolate over simmering water. Leave to cool down and then gently beat in the mascarpone until you have a thick creamy icing. Spread the mix over the cooled muffins and sprinkle with a Fairtrade chocolate drops or Steenbergs dark or light chocolate strands – I used dark.
Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cake
Then it’s up to you how to enjoy them – whether with a cup of strong coffee or some delicious freshly brewed Steenbergs organic Fairtrade Peace Tea in a mug.
Fairtrade Flowers And The Volcano
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010One of the consequences of the volcanic ash is that food and flowers from the developing world is not being flown in. Now I don’t buy vegetables out of season nor do I buy flowers out of season, but I worry about the impact this flying ban is having on the farmers themselves. One particular concern I have is for the Fairtrade flower growers in places like Kenya – those gorgeous roses are grown to peak just in time but are now either being picked and trashed or going over on the plant, not good enough for sale.
So I say if you care about Fairtrade, start asking the major retailers what they are doing about it? Ask them are they compensating the Fairtrade flower growers for trashed flowers? Are they working with the flower growers to find a solution, eg flying into Spain and then road haul? Will they pick up any incremental costs or will it be passed onto the consumer, ie the retailer never pays for anything really?
Or is Fairtrade just skin deep for them – we’ll (that’s Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Interflora, Waitrose, Interflora etc) love Fairtrade when its on message for our strategy but stuff it when events get in the way! I’m asking so why not email, blog, Tweet or whatever you fancy to their PR departments and show you care and so should they.
Steenbergs Listed in Rose Prince’s Latest Book
Monday, April 19th, 2010Rose Prince has been really lovely and kind and listed us twice in her new book – The Good Food Producers Guide 2010 – under Drinks and under Delis and Specialists. We always feel flattered – and a bit embarassed – when someone so influential likes Steenbergs products and so I thought it best to just quote straight from her book:
” Axel and Sophie Steenberg’s spices and teas are of the highest standard and are available by mail order. The company was established in 2003 and due to demand for its products has had to move three times. Now in an eco-friendly factory, they sell Fairtrade spices by mail order and to other retail outlets, as well as from factory gate. Beautiful packaging; lovely business.”
“I have always liked Axel and Sophie Steenberg’s principled company, which specialises in high quality organic and / or Fairtrade spices, but it would not be fair to leave out their beautiful teas from this chapter of the guide. They sell a huge range, most accredited by the Fairtrade Foundation, and many in funky-looking tins (great presents) that keep the tea inside nice and fresh. Choose from some impressive grassy green teas, delicate unfermented, dried white teas and full-on matured black tea. Herbs are also available. Order online.”
Thank you Rose.
Recipe – Sweet Tart Dough or Sweet Pastry
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010I am not very good at making pastry. Some people say that you need cold hands to make pastry and dough, but I have warm hands as I seem always to be burning away all that food – perhaps I just never sit still or my metabolism runs too fast.
So I asked our good friend, Anthony Sterne to come up with his easy pastry recipes and then for us to have a go at them ourselves. Anthony used to be a development chef at Pret A Manger in London before setting out on his own, originally making pies and pastry with exotic fillings and has now branched out into quiches and (very successfully) into delicious cakes. His business is called Independent Foods – originally I’s Pies – and his great creations are available in Booths, Morrisons and Waitrose, but in our opinion should be more widely available. You can check his web site out at http://www.independentfoods.co.uk/
In Anthony’s words “this recipe creates a crisp, biscuity pastry that is perfect as a base for tarts or mince pies. As long as the oven is well preheated it generally works really well without blind baking. The most important consideration is to make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature (especially the butter and eggs) before starting.”
400g / 14oz plain flour
160g / 5.5oz good butter (softened)
140g / 5oz caster Sugar
2 large eggs (we only ever use free-range)
1 tsp Steenbergs Organic Vanilla Extract
Use an electric mixer with the beater attachment or a bowl and a wooden spoon to cream the butter and caster sugar together. The mixture should be light in colour and slightly fluffy in texture.
Beat the eggs and add gradually with the teaspoon of Steenbergs Organic Fairtrade vanilla extract, mixing all the time. If the mixture starts to split, you can add a tablespoon of flour, however it shouldn’t split as long as everything isn’t too cold.
Once all the egg has been incorporated, you can add the flour and continue to mix until a smooth dough is formed. The pastry should be soft but not sticky, if it sticks to your finger when poked just add a bit more flour.
You can leave the pastry in a cool place (not the fridge) for half an hour to relax although it is fine to use it straight away. Roll out on a well floured surface. It doesn’t keep well in the fridge as it becomes hard and unworkable although any excess is fine to make into shells and freeze for later use.
Recipe – Hot Cross Buns
Saturday, March 27th, 2010I have always bought our hot cross buns from the baker or the supermarket, which just seems a bit too lazy really, so I thought I would have a bash at making them myself this year.
Hot cross buns grew out of traditional Lenten yeast buns that started being popular in England in the mediaeval times, when these small enriched bread buns were served at the end of Lent to be eaten while drinking a good quantity of celebratory wine. They became popular throughout Lent during the Elizabethan times, when wealthier people loved to show-off their money and sophistication by spicing these buns up with expensive, rare and luxurious spices and dried fruits that were really hard to come by during the cold, winter months.
It had also been traditional in the mediaeval period to mark the loaves with a cross cut into the top of the buns to ward off evil spirits and so encourage the bread to rise. This was abandoned for most of Lent during the Reformation (in the 17th Century) when such behaviour was regarded as too popish, however they were still made with crosses on them for Good Friday in token of the crucifixion, so the tradition did not completely die out.
Because of the wide availability of storecupboard staples like spices and dried fruits nowadays, we have all lost the excitement and awe that used to arise from cooking with these things to enrich your breads and cakes, while the fact that they seem to start getting into the shops immediately Christmas is past means that we are inured to the religious significance of hot cross buns as a Lenten tradition.
I really hate this drifting of traditions by the supermarkets with Easter eggs and buns being available for months before Lent and Christmas getting into stores from somewhere towards the end of the summer holidays.
These home-made hot cross buns have a lovely mild spiciness unlike the heavy-handed flavours of the high street bakers, while the texture is great; they have a soft, silky mouth-feel – it’s a bit like the difference between a feather and a foam pillow, where the supermarkets’ hot cross buns are the chewy, rubbery foam pillow.
Ingredients
For the hot cross buns:
210ml / 7½ fl oz milk
1 free-range organic egg
450g / 1lb white bread flour (unbleached bread flour, please)
1½ tsp organic Fairtrade mixed spice
½ tsp organic ground cinnamon powder
½ tsp sea salt
50g / 2oz organic Fairtrade caster sugar
50g / 2oz organic butter or lard or margarine
1½ tsp quick yeast , or easy-blend/ rapid-rise yeast
100g / 4oz organic currants
25g / 1oz organic sultanas
25g / 1oz organic mixed peel
For the pastry crosses:
50g / 2oz plain flour
25g / 1oz butter (or if you prefer margarine)
Tip: you can cheat by using 50g / 2oz shortcrust pastry from the freezer section in a local shop, which you then cut into narrow strips, or add enough water to make it runny enough so that it can be piped as below
For the glaze:
30ml / 2tbsp milk
25g / 1oz organic Fairtrade caster sugar
Stage one – making the dough
Using a bread machine:
Pour the organic milk and free–range egg into the bowl of the breadmaker. Reverse the order if your bread machine tells you so to do. Sprinkle over the white bread flour, ensuring that it covers the liquid. Add Steenbergs organic Fairtrade mixed spice and the organic cinnamon powder. Then place the sea salt, caster sugar and butter in separate corners of the bread pan. Finally, make a small indent in the centre of the flour and put the yeast into there.
Set the bread machine to the dough setting; use the basic raisin dough setting if that option is available on your machine. Press start. Lightly grease 2 sheets of baking paper.
When the machine beeps or 5 minutes before the end of the kneading period, add the organic mixed peel, organic currants and organic sultanas.
Stage two – making the hot cross buns
Hot Cross Bun Dough
When the dough is made, remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knock it back gently, then divide into 12 pieces. Cup each piece between your hands and shape into a ball. Place these balls on the prepared greased baking sheets, and cover with oiled clear film, and leave for 30 – 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400oF.
Make the pastry crosses either cheating by using some frozen shortcrust pastry cut into strips or making your own pastry. In a bowl, rub together the plain flour and butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Bind together with a little bit of water to make a soft pastry which can be piped. Spoon the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe a cross onto each bun.
If you want to be more ”ye olde breadmaker” about it, you could cut into the buns rather than put on the pastry crosses. You do this by cutting into each pastry ball through the surface by not all the way down.
Bake the hot cross buns for 15 – 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
While the hot cross buns are in the oven, heat the milk and sugar together in a small pan to make the glaze. Stir thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved. Brush the glaze over the top of the baked hot cross buns, turn them onto a wire rack to cool, then serve immediately or leave to cool, reheating them when you want to eat them.
Home Made Hot Cross Buns
This recipe and some of the spiel was based on a recipe from a great book on baking bread, called “Bread” by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter.
Steenbergs Fairtrade Vanilla – Some Background
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010I tried to post a response online at The Times in relation to their article but they wouldn’t post it – perhaps it was too long or too partisan. In any case here are some further details on Steenbergs vanilla.
The article in The Times is unfortunately in part true as child labour is one of the big problems with vanilla in Madagascar and the developing world. I am not sure about widespread employment of children below the age of 8 years old, but it certainly might exist in pockets and will tend to happen around harvest time on family farms.
Other major problems include: very high levels of general poverty and low levels of development within Madagascar where GNI per capita is $410 for 2008 compared to $45,390 for the UK, ranking Madagascar 145th out of 182 countries; and environmental issues such as degradation of the rainforests for slash & burn agriculture and massive losses of unique biodiversity in Madagascar.
These issues are being addressed in a small way by Steenbergs through a focus on (a) organic agriculture and (b) Fairtrade vanilla, but the fight must still go on to improve further the development prospects of the Malagasy people.
Steenbergs vanilla beans come from three Fairtrade projects in North Eastern Madagascar with about 1000 farmers structured into co-operatives. Employed staffing is low at 60 people with a large amount of seasonal workers, reaching up to 400 people. Child labour is prohibited. All workers are paid above the minimum Malagasy wage and lunch is provided for free and is not deducted from wages. All employees work 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday and 4 hours on Saturday morning. If additional work is needed, overtime is paid at a higher rate. The working week is no more than 60 hours. Employees are provided with work clothes.
Here are some basic facts relating to financial status of region:
- Vanilla represents over 90% of agricultural income of planters’ families with rest coming from sales of coffee and some rice, but perhaps more importantly it is these cash crops that enables farmers to generate income above pure subsistence farming; the rest of their farming is cassava, rice and vegetables for their own consumption. Each planter produces on average 400kg a year of green vanilla (unprocessed vanilla) every year which generates income of roughly $600/year per family. Switching to organic Fairtrade vanilla generates income of over $2,000 for the same crop, an increase of $1,400 per year per family.
- So without Fairtrade and organic, vanilla farmers only earn less than $2 a day to live on and so their standard of living is miniscule, and even with Fairtrade and an income of $5.5 a day there is still a long way to go. On top of this, a typical Malagasy family comprises 8 people plus sometimes some additional grandparents, and they live in a bamboo hut of 20 – 30m2.
- As for schooling in the vanilla growing regions, 80% of children aged 6 – 11 go to the local state school, but only 10 – 15% continue to middle school (12 – 15 years old) and 3% continue their schooling beyond the age of 15 years old. Schools are usually about 100m2, which is then used to teach 4 grades, i.e. 300 children, in the same space.
Vanilla Planters Walking Along Track
- Other social information: with a few exceptions, mains drinking water is not available nor is electricity. Transport is by foot along country tracks and average distances of travel to various places are: 5 – 8km to middle school; 25km to high school; 25km to nearest dispensary for pharmaceuticals; and 90km to nearest hospital with first 20km by foot.
The Fairtrade premium has been used in the last year for the following:
- Purchase of land and construction of silos for storage of rice
- The repair of bridges and other small structures
- Improvement of school facilities
Other projects being looked at include:
- Drinking water supply and sewerage infrastructure
- Improvement of country tracks to make walking easier
- Irrigation systems to aid rice farming and stop “slash & burn” farming techniques
- Plan on AIDS awareness to be conducted at school
For me, even Fairtrade seems like a drop in the ocean and more needs to be done. But the key is to start taking those small steps towards greater economic stability and social improvements and to halt environmental degradation (stop the slash and burn of the forests).
Vanilla Flower
Fecondation or Hand Pollination of Vanilla Flowers
Initial Heating To Kill Green Vanilla Beans - Echadaudage
Curing and Testing the Maturing Vanilla Beans
Sorting And Packing Fairtrade Vanilla
Child Labour and Vanilla
Monday, March 15th, 2010There was a pretty damning article in The Times yesterday about child labour and low prices paid for vanilla from Madagascar – see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7060962.ece, however rest assured our vanilla beans are not creating abuse like that. Here is my full response to the article:
“At Steenbergs, we were one of the first people in Europe to start with Fairtrade spices before any of the supermarkets or other major spice brands. We hate the fact that such a small amount is being on the high street for commodities that mean the difference between a sustainable living and real poverty and hunger for families in the developing world, including child labour on a big scale; a few pence saved by Tesco or Sainsbury translates into a huge difference back on the small farms in Madagascar, India and Sri Lanka. When Axel Steenberg (that’s me) and Sophie Steenberg (my wife) started buying and selling organic spices back in 2003, there had been a few bad crops of vanilla in Madagascar so 90% of world supply disappeared overnight and the price of vanilla shot up to $500. We worked hard to pioneer Fairtrade spices and became one of the first to do these in the world. As for vanilla, small farmers in India borrowed money and started planting vanilla plants to “cash in” on the boom, only for Madagascan supply to come back and the prices on the world market to collapse to below $20 now, leaving farmers in India with unpayable debts and suicides rising. That’s where Fairtrade comes in, as it put a floor on the vanilla price purchased from source at $45 per kg of vanilla plus $6.50 as a Fairtrade premium, as well as having rules on using child labour and educating children and so on.
Fairtrade rules state that no child below the age of 15 may be employed (contracted) and any work may not interfere with schooling, or jeopardize “the social, moral or physical development of the young person”. Also, the people involved must work under the Small Producers rules of Fairtrade and cannot be big industrial concerns. This is audited annually by auditors working for Fairtrade as there is a fine line between a bit of casual work on the family farm (which is permitted and cannot be policed) and employed work which could drift to become like the article above. The minimum price of $45 per kg is the price that is paid by our exporters of vanilla, whether from Madagascar or India, to the farmers groups plus the various costs of getting it here to Ripon in North Yorkshire. We pay more for the gourmet high quality beans that we use for Steenbergs products or sell to people like Crazy Jack’s and a bit less for extract grade Fairtrade vanilla beans that go into Steenbergs organic Fairtrade vanilla extract, so when you buy these products we have paid minimum prices way above the world market price, as well as adhering to the rules of Fairtrade and a chain of custody that ensures money gets down to the people who matter. We are currently redesigning our vanilla packaging and you will be able to get two Steenbergs organic Fairtrade vanilla beans for less than the price of non-organic vanilla in a supermarket – about £4.50 for two.
One of the things to look out for is that the vanilla in the your chocolate bars is actually from a Fairtrade vanilla. So I am not convinced that your Fairtrade Dairy Milk Bar from Cadbury’s contains any Fairtrade vanilla, so it’s a bit of a swizz, just like the Green & Black’s Fairtrade Maya Chocolate Bar that does not include Fairtrade vanilla just a straight old organic one.
Find out more at http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/category/22/fairtrade-products for fairtrade products and about our ethics at http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/article/show/48/steenbergs-business-social-and-ethical-principles and about how Fairtrade works at http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/blog/2009/09/fairtrade-spices-standards-a-reprise/“
Recipe for Simnel Cake
Sunday, March 14th, 2010Today is Mother’s Day and what a glorious sunny, Spring day it has been. We gave Sophie a gorgeous bouquet of flowers – white roses, lilies and greenery – and went to church for a Mothers’ Day Service, a bit of a rarity for me. I liked the sentiment which was that mother’s always have time for a smile for their children however exasperating, painful and annoying we can all be. So thank you Mothers and Mums everywhere for being so tolerant, caring and loving.
Traditionally in Britain, today the fourth Sunday on Lent was the first day that girls in service at the big, posh houses of the gentry were allowed to go home and see their Mothers – this is back in the 17th and 18th centuries. As such, they would bring home a demonstration of their skills learnt at their place of work – a rich and delicious fruit cake that became known as Simnel Cake.
So today used to be called Simnel Sunday and then morphed into Mothering Sunday. Originally, the cakes were decorated with 11 small paste balls, symbolising the 11 faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. These cakes improved with eating and were best enjoyed at the end of the Lenten Fast or Lent and so they became associated with Easter to become the traditional Easter Cake. Simnel Cakes are less often baked than a Christmas Cake but I feel they should be made as much of a tradition as the classic Christmas Cake.
Here’s how we made ours today:
Ingredients For Simnel Cake
Ingredients for the cake:
125g / 4oz butter
125g/ 4oz dark brown muscovado sugar
3 free range organic eggs, beaten (they were discounted in Spar – bargain at 50p a half dozen)
150g / 5oz organic plain flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp organic Fairtrade mixed spice
350g / 12oz mixed organic raisins and sultanas (about 200g: 150g respectively)
50g / 2oz mixed chopped peel
Grated rind of lemon (I used orange today as I had no lemon and I am sure it will be fine)
For the marzipan or almond paste:
225g / 80z Fairtrade organic caster sugar
225g / 8oz organic ground almonds
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon Steenbergs Natural Almond Extract
To glaze the cake
A little apricot jam
A little beaten egg (just cadge some from making the marzipan as you don’t need much)
Prepare an 18cm (7 inch) deep circular cake tin by greasing and lining the base and the sides.
To make the marzipan, mix together the caster sugar, ground almonds, Steenbergs natural almond essence and beaten egg and knead with your hands to a smooth pliable mix. If it feels too gooey, just add a bit more almond and knead some more. Roll out a third of the marzipan – almond paste - into a circle and set aside. Reserve the remainder for topping the cooked cake.
Mixing Up The Marzipan Or Almond Paste
Now put the oven on and preheat to 140oC / 275oF.
To make the cake, cream the butter and muscovado sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time. Sieve together the plain flour, sea salt and Steenbergs mixed spice together and add to the mixture alternately with the dried fruit, mixed peel and grated rind, mixing all the ingredients together.
Put half the mixture into the cake tin, then smooth the top and cover with the circle of almond paste. Add the rest of the cake mixture and smooth the top, hollowing out a small hole in the centre. Bake in the oven for 1½ hours.
When the cake has cooled, brush the top with apricot jam. Now put the oven on and preheat to 180oC / 350oF. Then with the reserved marzipan, roll 11 small balls (for the good disciples and definitely smaller than the massive balls that I made) and then roll out the rest of the almond paste over the top of the cake. Now place the almond paste balls evenly around the edge of the cake. Return the cake to the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the paste has gone slightly brown.
Simnel Cake
We then put some coloured speckled Easter eggs in the centre. leave for a couple of weeks to mature and then eat and enjoy.
