Unseasonal Simnel

In Marzipan Judas, I said that the morals to the story were 1.) Don't forget your icing sugar; 2.) Don't forget the egg glaze; 3.) Don't get cocky and bend over carrying a cake in one hand. On the first two points, see below, but as regards the third... it seems that I am destined to drop simnel cakes.  I did not bend over carrying this one.  No.  This one made it all the way to its final destination, up some stairs and back down them, and then SPLAT.  Perhaps it's the weight of the fruitcake that causes the fall, but it's also the weight that saves it.  As the sole witness to my (second) slip-up said: 'It bounced'.  Well, there we are.

The only relevant wisdom I have to instill in this update, really, is that icing sugar certainly does make the going less tough, and that brushing the marzipan with an egg wash before grilling it does improve the cake's appearance.  I maintain, however, that a kitchen blow torch would be an improvement on the grill, because even with the wash the grilling is still unevenly distributed due to the top of the cake being higher at points and lower at others; the taller points will always burn faster, and the lower points persist in developing pale, crusty spots.  A blowtorch would allow much more control.  In terms of making a photogenic cake, I also found that making one and a half times the recipe gives the cake a very good height.  It also means more to eat, of course, so where's the downside?

I also learned that while eleven or twelve marzipan balls are traditionally used to decorate the cake, representing the eleven apostles, or the eleven apostles plus Jesus, some families will also make a thirteenth marzipan ball.  This thirteenth ball, representing Judas, is not to be put on the cake, but is divvied up and eaten before the cake is cut.  #CakeKnowledge.  Speaking of which, if you're wondering what that poster is - good!  Watch this space.