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

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: Golden Syrup heart loaf cake

Golden Syrup heart loaf cake

This Golden Syrup heart loaf cake is a cake within a cake… well, not quite. What you do is mix two different batters; in this recipe one is a beetroot cake and the other a golden syrup one. The finished product looks a lot trickier to do than is actually the case.

Beetroot cake ingredients

The uncooked beetroot cake mixture was such a vibrant pink – it was so beautiful! If only I’d remembered from when I used it on a previous occasion that it loses its colour once cooked, it turns to a golden brown.

Beetroot cake mixture in a square cake tin

As it happened, the two cake mixtures were virtually the same colour once they’d both been cooked. Epic “nailed it!” attempt on my part.

Heat shaped cutters and beetroot cake

You can make the central shape anything you like – it doesn’t have to be a heart. It can be a plain circle or a square or any shape cookie cutter you have to hand. Similarly, the flavour and colour of your cakes can be something else of your choosing. Use a couple of tablespoonfuls of cocoa powder or fine-ground instant coffee and the inner colour will be dark brown. You could simply use a few drops of food colouring in one or both of the cake mixtures; yellow & green, pink & blue… or even lighter and darker shades of the same colour.

Golden Syrup, butter and two types of sugar in a saucepan

I’m going to have to try this recipe again – I won’t let it defeat me!

Click here or on the image below to save this Golden Syrup heart loaf cake recipe to Pinterest

Golden Syrup heart loaf cake recipe

Golden Syrup heart loaf cake
Serves 8
Cook Time
45 min
Cook Time
45 min
For the heart sponge cake
  1. 100g/3½oz caster sugar
  2. 100g/3½oz butter, softened
  3. 2 eggs
  4. 100g/3½oz self-raising flour
  5. 25g/1oz beetroot powder
For the Golden Syrup sponge cake
  1. 100g/3½oz butter
  2. 50g/1¾oz caster sugar
  3. 50g/1¾oz light brown soft sugar
  4. 200g/7oz Golden Syrup
  5. 250g/9oz self-raising Flour
  6. 1 egg
  7. 135ml/4¾fl oz milkGolden Syrup heart loaf cake ingredients
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For the heart sponge cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  2. Grease and line a 23cm/9" square cake tin
  3. Cream together the caster sugar and butter until light and fluffy
  4. Whisk the eggs and add to the sugar/butter mixture in 2 increments
  5. Sift in the self-raising flour and beetroot powder and fold into the batter
  6. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until fully cooked
  7. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack
  8. Once fully cooled, use a heart-shaped cutter to carefully cut out bat shapes from the cake. Set the shapes aside while you prepare the other cake mixture
For the golden syrup sponge cake
  1. Grease and line a 1kg/2lb loaf tin
  2. In a small saucepan add the caster sugar, light brown soft sugar, golden syrup and butter and gently melt. Set aside and allow to cool
  3. Sieve the self-raising flour into a large mixing bowl
  4. Whisk together the milk and egg before adding them to the flour alongside the cooled sugar/syrup/butter mixture
  5. Combine until smooth and lump-free
  6. Spoon about ⅓ of the mixture into the loaf tin
  7. Get the heart shapes and carefully set them upright into the mixture. Place them tightly together so they hold each other up
  8. Carefully spoon the rest of the mixture into the loaf tin. Ensure you cover the hearts and that they stay in place
  9. Bake for about 45 minutes, until fully cooked
  10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin
  11. Slice and serve
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Cakes & Bakes: Sultana loaf cake

Sliced sultana loaf cake

I’ve made a fair few tea loaf cakes over the years, but Justin has voted this sultana loaf cake the best. I’d planned to cook a completely different cake, but at the last minute realised I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise!

Pouring golden syrup into cake batter

The sultana cake consists of 8 simple ingredients that you should already have in your fridge and kitchen cupboard.

Sultana loaf cake batter in lined loaf tin

It’s a doddle to prepare; simply cream the butter & sugar, add everything else except the milk, which you add at the end to thin the batter to just the right consistency. I’d imagine this cake would be equally fantastic if you used glacé cherries instead of sultanas… I just may try that next week.

Click here or on the image below to save this sultana loaf cake recipe

Sultana loaf cake recipe

Sultana loaf cake
Serves 8
Cook Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
Ingredients
  1. 115g/4oz butter, softened
  2. 115g/4oz of caster sugar
  3. 3 eggs
  4. 2 tbsps golden syrup
  5. 285g/10oz of self-raising flour
  6. 170g/6oz sultanas
  7. Itsp almond essence
  8. 140ml/5fl oz/¼pint of milkSultana loaf cake ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar
  2. Add eggs and golden syrup and beat
  3. Stir in self-raising flour, sultanas and almond essence
  4. Add the milk and mix to a dropping consistency
  5. Top with a sprinkling of granulated sugar then bake for around 1 hour at 175ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
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Adapted from Remembering the Old Walys
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting

Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting

Here’s another baked item to add to my ever-growing ‘best loaf cake’ round up; carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting.

Dry ingredients and 3 eggs Grated carrot

I decided to make this cake because I had a bag of carrots that I bought for half price, but I may make a version of it again soon. Even more of our courgettes are ripening and I’ll simply swap the ½ pound of carrots for grated courgettes.

Carrot cake mixture

Again, if you don’t have walnuts in your cupboard, simply substitute them for chopped pecans or another of your favourite nuts.

Carrot cake batter in a lined loaf tin Baked carrot loaf cake in its tin

This simple frosting was delicious… and the best use I’ve found to date for the excess liquid from a jar of stem ginger in syrup.

Ginger buttercream frosting

Click here or on the image below to save the carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting recipe to Pinterest

Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting recipe | H is for Home #cake #carrotcake #loafcake #recipe #baking #cooking #cookery #teacake

Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting
Serves 8
Cook Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
For the cake
  1. 200g/7oz plain flour
  2. ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  3. ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  4. 1 tsp baking powder
  5. 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  6. 150g/5oz dark muscovado sugar
  7. 200ml/7 fl oz vegetable oil
  8. 3 medium eggs
  9. 225g/8oz carrots, peeled and roughly grated
  10. 50g/2oz chopped walnuts
For the frosting
  1. 100g/3½oz butter, softened
  2. 200g/7oz icing (powdered) sugar
  3. 2tbsp ginger syrupCarrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting ingredients
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For the loaf cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2
  2. Grease & line the base and sides of a 500g/1lb loaf tin with parchment paper
  3. Sift the flour, spices, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl
  4. Stir in the dark muscovado sugar and mix together
  5. Lightly whisk the oil and eggs together, then gradually stir into the flour & sugar mixture. Stir well
  6. Add the carrots and walnuts. Mix thoroughly, then pour into the prepared cake tin
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour, or until browned on the top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes away clean
  8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Reserve until cold
For the frosting
  1. Beat the butter and ginger syrup together until smooth, then gradually stir in the icing sugar until the frosting is completely smooth
  2. Once the loaf cake is completely cool, spread the frosting evenly over the top
Notes
  1. You could sprinkle a little of the stem ginger from the jar, chopped finely, over the top for an extra kick
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