Baking Heaven April 2020

Serve with a blob

of crème fraîche,

mascarpone or Greek

yoghurt streaked

with cherry jam

32 baking heaven APRIL WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM

Bing cherry and

almond cake

SERVES 12

150g (5½oz) dried cherries,

preferably Bing

40g (1½oz) ground almonds

270g (9½oz) plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

115g (4oz) unsalted butter, at

room temperature, plus

extra for greasing

210g (7oz) caster sugar

3 medium free-range eggs

½ tsp almond extract

190ml (6½fl oz) whole milk

120g (4oz) chilled marzipan,

coarsely grated

30g (1oz) flaked almonds

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark

5. Grease the sides of a deep 20cm (8in)
   round cake tin and line the bottom with
   baking parchment.
   2 Put the cherries in a heatproof bowl,
   cover with boiling water, then set aside
   and leave to soak.
   3 Spread the ground almonds out on a
   baking tray and toast them in the oven
   for 3-4 minutes, or until just starting to

colour. Be careful! They burn in a flash.

Remove from the oven and set aside

to cool.

4 Sift the flour and baking powder

together, then add the toasted

ground almonds.

5 In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer,

cream the butter and sugar together

until pale and fluffy, scraping down the

sides of the bowl frequently.

6 Beat in the eggs, one at a time,

followed by the almond extract.

7 Beat in half the flour and almond

mixture, followed by half the milk. Add

the remaining flour mixture, then the

remaining milk. Beat only until

everything is incorporated and there are

no streaks of flour remaining.

8 Drain the water off the cherries,

then squeeze and pat them dry.

Cut the cherries up until they are the

size of currants.

9 Add the chopped cherries to the cake

batter along with the grated marzipan

and stir to distribute evenly. Transfer the

mixture to the lined cake tin, then

sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top

of it.

10 Bake in the middle of the oven for

60-70 minutes. Check it after

40 minutes and, if the top is browning

too quickly, cover the cake loosely

with foil for the remaining cooking

time. When it is ready, it should be well

risen and golden, and a skewer inserted

into the middle should come out clean.

If it doesn’t, give it another 5 minutes in

the oven.

11 Remove from the oven and allow

the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes,

then turn it out onto a wire rack to

cool completely.

Tip This cake will keep well in an airtight

container for up to 1 week. It also

freezes perfectly.

Recipe taken from

The Vegetarian

Kitchen by Prue

Leithand Peta Leith,

published by

Bluebird (£25).