RECIPE | CHERRY AND ALMOND LOAF CAKE

I have a strange attachment to the safety of baking loaf cakes. I rarely find they ever go wrong and they are by far one of my favourite cakes to bake.

I baked this Cherry and Almond Loaf Cake a few weeks back when testing out some new 1lb loaf tins. I usually bake my loaf cakes in a 2lb tin but I love the idea of having two identical cakes of smaller size. One for yourself and one to share or to put in the freezer.

 Ingredients:

Cake:

175g Butter

175g Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Essence

75g Ground Almonds

175g Self-Raising Flour

1 1/2tsps Baking Powder

300g Glace Cherries

3tbsps Milk

Decoration:

5tbsps Icing Sugar

1tsp Water

1 handful of Flaked or Chopped Almonds

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (or alternatively two 1lb loaf tins).

2. Cream the butter and the sugar with a hand mixer or stand mixer until light and fluffy - this should take around 2-3 minutes.

3. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla essence until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

4. Sift the self-raising flour into the mixture, followed by the baking powder and the ground almonds.

5. Rinse and drain the glace cherries and then dust them in a few tablespoons of flour until they are lightly coated (this will stop the cherries from sinking to the bottom of the cake).

6. Add the cherries to the mixture and fold until it is well combined and the cherries evenly distributed.

6. Add the milk to loosen the mixture into a thick batter (use more or less milk if needed).

7. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and place on the center shelf of your oven to bake for 40-50 minutes.

8. Once removed from the oven, allow the cakes to cool.

9. Mix the icing sugar with the water (it should be quite thick) and drizzle over the cake and sprinkle with flaked or chopped almonds to finish.