Tag: cherry

Cakes & Bakes: Cherry almond pound cake

Cherry almond pound cake sliced

It’s been years since I ate something with cherries in it. Along with apricots, they’re not one of Justin’s favourite dried fruits. He’s more of a raisin/sultana kinda guy. Having said that, wrap virtually anything in a cake batter and he’ll have a slice. I actually quite like them, so this week, I bought some and made a cherry and almond pound cake.

Mixing bowls with cake ingredients

Cherry and almond is a classic pairing in cakes, biscuits and other sweet, baked goods. Glacé cherries are such as 1960s/70 foodstuff; a tropical cocktail garnish stalwart also to be found accompanying pineapple chunks and cubes of cheddar on a buffet ‘hedgehog’.

Chopped cherries and beaten eggs Adding chopped cherries to pound cake mixture

As an aside, I can’t recommend highly enough paper loaf tin liners; they avert a lot of faffing about with parchment paper. Before buying them though, make sure they fit the dimensions of your tin.

Pound cake mixture in a lined loaf tin

The results were delicious. The flavour combination did indeed work perfectly – and the cake was sweet & moist. It wasn’t intentional, but it looks quite festive too… the red cherries on a white icing sugar background. We both enjoyed it and agreed that it’s definitely a ‘cup of tea’ cake rather than a ‘cup of coffee’ cake. So, if time allows – rustle yourself one up, get the kettle on… and enjoy!

Cooked cherry almond pound cake

Click here or on the image below to save the cherry almond pound cake recipe to Pinterest

 

Cherry almond pound cake recipe

Cherry almond pound cake sliced

Cherry almond pound cake

Print recipe Pin recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Equipment

  • large mixing bowl
  • small mixing bowl
  • loaf tin
  • loaf tin liner
  • wire cooling rack

Ingredients
  

  • 200 grams butter softened
  • 200 grams caster sugar
  • 3 eggs beaten
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 200 grams self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 50 grams ground almonds
  • 100 grams glacé cherries roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 3 glacé cherries sliced into halves

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  • Grease & line a 900g/1lb loaf tin. Set aside
  • In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and caster sugar
  • Mix in the beaten eggs in 3 increments
  • Add the almond extract
  • In a small mixing bowl, sift together the self-raising flour and baking powder
  • Stir the ground almonds into the flour
  • Fold the flour mixture into the contents of the large mixing bowl
  • Fold in the chopped glacé cherries
  • Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin
  • Cook for 40-45 minutes
  • Allow the loaf to cool completely - still in its tin - on a wire rack
  • Sprinkle the icing sugar evenly over the top and place the halved cherries in a row
  • Slice and serve
Keyword cake, cherry cake, loaf cake, pound cake

Cakes & Bakes: Cherry pie

Slice of home-made cherry pie | H is for Home

Justin’s favourite pie is bilberry, closely followed by strawberry. I on the other hand, like Twin Peaks’ Special Agent Dale Cooper, prefer a nice slice of cherry pie. Whatever the flavour, we agree on having it à la mode, with thick pouring cream… or better still, both!

Making sweet, short pastry | H is for Home Frozen cherries and caster sugar | H is for Home

A few weeks ago, I discovered bags of frozen cherries for sale at Lidl. I’ve often banged on about the nutritiousness, convenience and value for money of frozen blueberries… well, the same goes for cherries.

Making a sweet pastry case | H is for Home Sweet pastry case with baking beans | H is for Home

To give the pie a bit of a twist, I made a sweet almond pastry – a classic, complimentary flavour to cherries.

Spooning cherry filling into a pastry case | H is for Home

The vibrant red fruit makes for a very attractive dish.

Top of a home-made cherry pie | H is for Home

The combination of buttery pastry, tangy fruit and cold cream – truly delicious! What’s your favourite fruit pie?

Click here to save my recipe to Pinterest.

Cherry pie

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Number of servings: 6

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Cherry pie

Ingredients

    For the filling

  • 500g/17½oz frozen cherries (de-stoned)
  • 150g/5¼oz caster sugar

    • For the pastry

  • 150g/5¼oz plain flour
  • 50g/1¾oz ground almonds
  • 20g/¾oz caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 100g/3½oz cold butter, cubed
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2-3tbsp ice-cold water

    • To finish

  • A little milk to brush the pastry top
  • 1tbsp flaked almondsHome-made cherry pie ingredients

Method

  1. In a large saucepan over a low heat, add the frozen cherries and 125g caster sugar. Stir carefully, occasionally until the sugar has fully dissolved and the cherries have thawed. Set aside to cool completely
  2. In a food processor bowl, add the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt. Pulse a couple of times to combine.
  3. Add the butter and yolk and pulse 6-12 times until it reaches a breadcrumb texture
  4. Add the ice-cold water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing a couple of times between each addition until the texture begins to turn a bit lumpier
  5. Empty the contents of the food processor bowl on to the middle of a 'cross' of two sheets of cling film. Use the cling film to bring together the pastry into a flattened disc. Chill in the fridge for an hour
  6. Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  7. After the hour, divide the pastry into two uneven pieces - ? and ?s. Put the smaller piece back into the fridge
  8. Grease a 25cm/10" pie dish. Set aside
  9. Roll out the larger piece on a floured work surface into a circular shape and carefully push in down into the bottom and sides of the greased pie dish. Trim around the edge so that there's a ½cm overhang as there will be a little shrinkage
  10. Cover the pie crust with a piece of parchment, cover with baking beans and blind bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely
  11. Remove the smaller piece of pastry from the fridge and roll out into a round, slightly larger than the top of the pie dish
  12. Fill the pie crust with the cooked cherry filling and some of the syrup
  13. Brush the top edge of the baked & cooled pie crust with a little water and cover with the pastry top. Trim and softly press the pastry lid into the pie crust
  14. Brush the top with a little milk and sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top
  15. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden brown
  16. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving with cream or ice cream

Home Tones: Cherry Red

Brilliant white sitting room with cherry red sofacredit

Cherry red is a pinkish red with a tinge of black, giving it a deep intensity. It looks amazing with greys and leafy greens. You generally see it as a punchy impact or highlight colour – the red Aga cooker combined with dove grey cabinets is a favourite. Using the colour as an eye-catching feature on sofas, benches, chairs and doors is very successful. However,  there’s always an exception to the rule – the floor to ceiling, wall to wall expanse of mosaic tiles works really well in the bathroom space featured below.

Dove grey painted kitchen with cherry red Agacredit

Cherry red mosaic tiled bathroomcredit

Cherry red painted garden benchcredit

Cherry red 1950s inspired kitchencredit

Tonal grey bathroom with cherry red rails and under-sink cabinetcredit

Blue kitchen island/breakfast bar with cherry red bar stoolscredit

Brilliant white kitchen with 4 cherry red bar stoolscredit

Tuesday Huesday: Our cherry blossom

"Tuesday Huesday" blog post banner

view up into the cherry tree in blossom in our garden

We mentioned in our Tuesday Huesday post last week that our cherry blossom was due at any time – well here it is! We took this picture on the Sunday before the bank holiday this week when we had that lovely albeit short warm & sunny spell. We spent two glorious days pottering in the garden generally tidying up and replanting red currant, white currant and raspberry bushes that we “emancipated” from Justin’s parents’ old allotment.

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