Cherry & almond Easter cupcakes

Cherry & almond Easter cupcakes

These little Simnel cakes are really almondy, with pieces of marzipan in the mix - and they look gorgeous

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 24 cupcakes

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 25 mins

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and place 24 cupcake cases into cupcake tins. Beat the butter and sugar together with electric beaters or a tabletop mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 250g flour, baking powder, orange zest and juice and beat well till thick, creamy and evenly mixed.
  2. Toss cherries in the extra 2 tbsp flour and fold into the batter along with grated marzipan and almond essence (if using). Spoon into the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 mins, or until well risen and golden. Leave to cool in tin for 10 mins, then place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
  3. Mix the icing sugar with around 1 tbsp water to make a loose but not-too-runny icing. Ice the tops of the cupcakes and top each one with about 3 mini chocolate eggs.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2006.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 09 April 2009

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    These were very sweet as they contain a lot of sugar and marzipan. I will try making them again but will cut back on the sugar and add lemon juice to make the icing to try to cut through the sweetness.

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  • 10 April 2009

    Dardie commented on this recipe

    We are avid "fairy cake" fans in our house, and these went down a treat. To make distribution a little better I quartered the cherries but other than that stuck pretty much to the recipe. Would definately make them again.

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  • 13 April 2009

    doodlepip rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    These are absolutely lovely if you're a fan of marzipan. Lovely texture and flavour. I would agree with Dardie over chopping the cherries into quarters, it spaces them better. I used orange juice for the icing to complement the orange in the cakes and they were very moreish. I won't just be saving this recipe for Easter.

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  • 17 February 2010

    Jacky rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 30 March 2010

    caramacgirl rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I've made these cakes several times since the recipe was first in the magazine. I love marzipan and almond flavour. I find they freeze well so I've made a batch and will get them out just before Easter to ice and put the chocolate eggs on top!

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  • 31 March 2010

    caramacgirl commented on this recipe

    I would agree that cutting the cherries in quarters is better.

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  • 05 April 2010

    lynda's rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have to admit to not using the cherries as I knew the children wouldn't like them,but even so the cakes were delicious ! The marzipan is not overpowering,just right for fussy eaters ! Would make them again and again !

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  • 06 April 2010

    Hails commented on this recipe

    I made these as a treat for Easter! They were really delicious, soft and very morish!!! They were very sweet indeed, nice with a cup of tea! I used orange juice instead of water and also made marzipan eggs instead of mini chocolate eggs because i didnt think chocolate would compliment these!

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  • 09 March 2011

    honeybee rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy to make and very tasty. I have made these as in the recipe last Easter, and also with piped orange butter cream. Grandchildren liked them - but they are cherry lovers!

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  • 30 March 2011

    Glitzyrainbow7 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I cooked this recipe twice, both times with a halfed recipe as I used bun cases instead of cupcake cases. The first time I didn't use enough butter, but they were still good. The second time half my batch got burned bottoms and sides... :( I think it was because the oven was too hot (someone else was also using it). They were still yummy though!! :D

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  • 30 March 2011

    Glitzyrainbow7 commented on this recipe

    Also, I's use a bit more icing than the recipe states, as using half the mix I used 75g of icing sugar, but only a trickle per cake!

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  • 16 April 2011

    carole rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • 18 April 2011

    CakesForLife commented on this recipe

    I made these cakes for my latest bake sale and they went down really well www.cakesforlife.com

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  • 21 April 2011

    Winteringham rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    My husband loved these. I left out the marzipan as we had none and added some almond essence and ground almonds instead and worked fine. I also chopped the cherries into quarters so they were evenly distributed. They all went in a matter of minutes!

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  • Binder photo Liz

    07 July 2011

    Liz rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I found that the recipe actually made 36 fairy cakes, rather than 24.

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  • 27 January 2012

    kasia rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • 27 January 2012

    kasia rated this recipe

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  • 09 April 2012

    Teddy rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    very nice and easy :-)

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 24 cupcakes

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 25 mins

Ingredients

  • 250g pack butter , softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 175g golden caster sugar
  • 5 eggs , beaten
  • 250g self-raising flour , plus an extra 2 tbsp
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • zest 1 orange , plus 2 tbsp of the juice
  • 250g natural marzipan , coarsely grated (easiest if chilled beforehand)
  • ½ tsp almond essence, optional
  • 200g glacé cherries , halved

FOR THE DECORATION

  • about 100g/4oz icing sugar , sifted
  • mini chocolate eggs, to decorate
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