Cherry and Almond Cake

This delicious cherry and almond cake reminds me of something my mum would make for us when we were wee its so simple yet so delicious with all of the ooey gooey cherries on the top.

This is a very dense cake and is delicious served fresh out of the oven in warm slices. You could ice the topping but I don’t feel its nessecary I think the sticky cherries provide enough sweetness on the top of the cake without icing.

The cake is made by placing sticky glace cherries across the bottom of the cake tin and then the cake is poured in on top to bake. When it is baked the cake is flipped out of the tin to present the sticky cherries on the top of the cake. Its so very delicious and was a hit with the kids they absolutely loved it!

If you like the sound of this delicious cherry and almond cake you may also enjoy some of these other delicious old Scottish recipes from my youtube channel and website. My favourite is the triple scones recipe on youtube, you can make treacle scones, oat drop scones and even mini cream scones in this video. My other favourite homebaking video is the delicious Butterscotch Scone Swirls they are so easy to make and are so delicious! They look similiar to a cinnamon whirl but they are inspired by an old Scottish recipe.

Tips for making this recipe:

This cake is best eaten fresh out of the oven and you could even serve it up with some whipped cream, or some hot custard in the colder months would work really well. I love a thin slice fresh out of the oven on its own as its so delicious it doesn’t really need anything else.
You could ice up this cake but as I mentioned above it really is quite sweet on the top with the glace cherries already and doesn’t really need an icing. I just gave it a dusting with icing sugar for the look of it but even this isn’t that nessecary. If you wanted to add an icing I would go for a thin drizzle across the top of the cake.
This cake is really dense and travels well, it keeps really well in a storage container and although I haven’t actually tried freezing, because we eat it too quickly, but I imagine it would freeze well in the freezer.
You could also make this cake as a tray bake in a longer shallower dish and slice it up into slices. This would work well for serving the kids a wee portion.

Cherry and Almond Cake

150g glace cherries cut in half
225g Butter (extra for greasing)
225g Caster Sugar
6 eggs
70g self raising flour
175g ground almonds
Pinch of salt
1tsp almond extract
Icing Sugar to dust

Recipe Instructions:

Grease up your cake tin well and place a circle of greaseproof paper to cover the bottom of the cake tin.
Place all of the cherry pieces on the bottom of the cake tin. Spread them across so that they are covering the bottom.
Cream together the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl or electric mixer until nice and smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs and mix through one at a time. Beat for a minute or so at high speed.
Add in the self raising flour and ground almonds and mix through until blended.
Add in the pinch of salt and the almond extract and mix through until it is just mixed then pour into the cake tin.
Bake in the oven at 170oc for 1hour. Check the cake is cooked by poking a stick or knife through the centre of the cake and removing it. It should come out of the cake clean without sticky bits.
If your cake is starting to brown a little too much on the top you can add a circle of greaseproof on top of the cake halfway through. So give it a quick check at this point.
Leave to cool a little then pop it out onto a cooling rack with the cherries now on the top. Cool then sprinkle with a little icing sugar for a dusting.