Sunday 19 June 2011

Cherry Bakewell Cake

Today we are celebrating Father's Day in the UK and what better way to express our love than bake hubby his favourite cake! It's a small token to show how much we love and appreciate how lucky we are to have such a wonderful, caring and hard working father/hubby. We celebrated Father's Day yesterday when our son Jake and his family came over. We had a lovely day and of course spending time with our precious little grandson Ollie is always special.

Bakewell has always been one of hubby's favourites, infact when I first met him his diet consisted of Mr Kipling Bakewell tarts along with packets of jaffa cakes. His diet was terrible but then again he was a teenager living on his own and no one to feed him regular good meals! My hubby is my number one fan and enjoys all my bakes but this cake wins hands down for him.

Looking beyond the way the sponges came out slightly lopsided this cake turned out tasting absolutely perfect. This classic combination has this cake bursting with almond flavour, sandwiched together with the luxurious dark morello cherry conserve and topped with a blanket of silky white icing adorned with toasted flaked almonds and glace cherry halves.


Cherry Bakewell Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients
For The Cake
200g (8oz butter), well softened, + extra for greasing
200g (8oz) caster sugar
100g (4 oz) ground almonds
100g (4 oz) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon almond extract or essence
4 large eggs
Pinch of salt

For The Filling & Top
½ a 340g (approx 12 oz) jar of morello cherry conserve/jam
175g (6 oz) icing sugar
5-6 teaspoons water or lemon juice
1 tablespoon flaked almonds, lightly toasted

2 x 20cm (8 in) round sandwich tins, greased with butter and base lined with baking paper.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Using electric beaters, beat together all the cake ingredients until smooth. Divide the batter equally between tins and level the tops with a spatula. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch or a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. *Do not open the oven door until 25 minutes of baking to check the cake*.

Place the tins onto a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before turning out to fully cool. Make sure the top of one of the cakes is facing up as you’ll want a smooth surface for the icing later on.

When cool, put one sponge on a serving plate, then spread with conserve/jam. Sandwich the second sponge on top.

Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the water or lemon juice, then stir until smooth and thick. Spread evenly over the top and let it dribble over the sides. Scatter with toasted flaked almonds on the icing and leave to set for a few minutes before cutting.

*Notes*

This is an easy all in one method for making a sponge cake -please make sure your butter is fully softened before you start.

If you find morello cherry conserve/jam difficult to source, substitute with raspberry conserve/jam, it will be just as delicious!

To toast flaked almonds ~ place a single layer in a dry frying pan for toasting. With the frying pan over medium-high heat, stir or shake the nuts continually for 3 to 5 minutes or until they start to turn golden. Remove them from the cooking pan as soon as they're done.

A few glacé cherries placed on top of the icing additionally with the flaked toasted almonds would also be a lovely.

Hubby with Ollie ♥

34 comments:

Caroline said...

Your hubby is very lucky to have such a loving family! The cake looks lovely and moist, just perfect for a celebration.

I love the last picture - Ollie is a sweetie, I love the expression on his face!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a scrumptious and beautiful cake!!! Oh my, I would just love, love, love a slice! :)

xx,
Tammy

Kate@whatkatebaked said...

I'm sure your hubby must have been delighted to receive such a scrumptious cake- especially one that is an all time favourite! And such a beautiful picture Maria! You must be so proud.

AliceBakesCakes said...

I am a bakewell tart lover (although the Mr kiplings version, tried the real bakewell pudding and actually wasn't too keen - I know, I'm not supposed to say that)so this looks heavenly!

Chele said...

Awe, aren't you sweet! I am sure Hubby loved his cake.
PS - Ollie is growing up so quickly!

Gloria Baker said...

Amazing Cake María look delicious, love the picture of your hubby and the little Ollie, I love Ollie look sooo cute!! you are crazy for him! I know, is normal! gloria
huggs

The Caked Crusader said...

I think I've made this cake - it's a winner! Looks lovely

xgjnbatnujbgc said...

That looks so yummy. I love a Bakewell! x

Please Do Not Feed The Animals. said...

This is one of my favourites too but I have never made a home-made one. Your hubby is a lucky man!

Mandy@Withmilkandflour.com said...

This looks delicious! Made Jamie Olivers 1 minute Berry Ice Cream for fathers day dinner. It wasnt very good, wouldve much rather eaten this instead!

Maggie said...

Your husband has got good taste Maria - this cake is one of my husbands favourite cakes too.

Finla said...

Wowo i am o, love with ollie he is so so cute. And delicous cake too.

Mandy@Withmilkandflour said...

Just wanted to say thank you for your lovely comments on the blog. I'm a big fan of your blog and you're one of the ones that inspired me to start my own, so having you visit it is abit like meeting a celebrity! Mandy x

Anna said...

I love how classic and British this looks! Such a great spin on a Bakewell tart. My dad always says he's good friends with Mr. Kipling, haha...

Lynda said...

Bakewell tarts and cakes are my hubby's favourite too ;0)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

What a pretty looking cake. Do you know, I baked a cake for my dad and didn't even think of baking one for my hubby, although he did get a present from Cooper. What a cutie Ollie is :)

Choclette said...

Bakewell tart I know, but I've not come across a Bakewell cake before - splendid idea.

sohirach said...

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Kathy said...

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Misa said...

Wow, pretty pretty blog! I love the decoration and colour of your dishes, these make me smile :D

Cats_cupcakes said...

This looks amazing. My fella loves bakewell tarts so i'm going to make this for him! I am at work but have already printed the recipe off!

Lucie said...

Hi there lovely! So sorry it's been so long. What a lovely post to return to - Ollie is delicious and so is the cake! Love Lucie x

Anonymous said...

Hi Maria,

I love your blog and all the recipes I've made so far were delicious! It's a long time that you haven't updated the blog.... I hope you and your family are fine.

A regular reader.

Claire

Amanda McField said...

I have made this twice now and its is so yummy but how do you stop the glace cherries sinking to the bottom of the cake whilst it is cooking?

Maria♥ said...

Hi Amanda

There is no glace cherries in the actual sponge mixture. The glace cherries on the cake are placed after the icing.
Maria
x

flourpower said...

please come back soon, i miss gazing at your lovely cakes.

Elyza xx

Brownieville Girl said...

I hope all is OK Maria?

Miss you!

HappyAcademicRunner said...

Maria I just love this blog. It's so bright and positive and your cooking/baking looks wonderful! It brightens up my day to see someone who enjoys cooking and the kitchen so much!

all the best

sandra

John said...

I'd have to agree with your hubby - cherry bakewells are my favourite. Your cake looks delicious - thanks for the recipe!

Paul and Roz said...

Goddess in France http://rozinbrittany.blogspot.com/ I've just found your blog and have saved it, looking forward to reading it all.

Pistachio and Rose said...

seriously fabulous cake!

Victory Rolls & Mixing Bowls said...

This is a lovely post, beautiful cake :) x

Nom! x

Rochelle said...

Oh wow. This cake looks so good. Def on my 'to bake' list. :)

Kate said...

omgomgomgomg omg OMGOSSSHHH!!! My all time favourite thing is BAKEWELL TART!! I LOVE IT!!!
I've not been on blogspot fora while and so to catch up i wanted to have a look through my fave blogs! I was so over joyed to see this and im making it today!!

LOVE THE POST!! :)