Cherry almond loaf cake
Cherry almond loaf cake
ARGH! I have an exam tomorrow! And despite actually studying fairly well for this one, I seemed to have picked up that last minute bug of “*gasp*! I know nothing! What do I do! What do I do!” Yes the old last-minute-exasperation-impe nding-doom bug is very contagious, springing from absolute thin air! It probably doesn’t help that the weather is currently so wet and glum, I feel like I could bottle it up, and release it on the Sahara dessert to cause flash floods, but there you go.
So I realise panic does not necessarily make for the friendliest or rationalist people, so there is really nothing better in these situations like calm folk. The kind of people who have calmness oozing from their pores! My mother is one such person and almost as if she was a psychic, in preparation for my last-minute panic, baked a delicious Cherry almond loaf cake, in an attempt to make me de-stress (because baked goods have wonderful healing properties or so I believe). Anyways a couple of slices and several cups of tea later, I did indeed feel calmer! A lot fuller too, and slightly sleepy (in that post-meal sedation kind of way) but at least less panicked and just a tad more rational (which is always better in exam situations). So I thought I’d share this wonderful cake! It has a buttery golden texture with bites of sweet cherry goodness in between! More than one slice is a definite must!
Cherry almond loaf cake
Ingredients: 200g glacé cherries, 250g self-raising flour, 225g butter softened, 175g caster sugar, 3 eggs beaten, 2-3 drops almond essence, 100g ground almonds, 6 tbsp milk
Steps: Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs and almond essence then gently fold in the flour and ground almonds. Halve the cherries and fold them in. Then fold in the milk. Spoon the mixture into a loaf tin and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted through the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin on a wire rack until completely cooled, then slice and serve.
Makes 8-10 slices
