Cherry - Almond Loaf Cake

I never really paid attention to the trees in our backyard. One day I was walking through our backyard when I found a little, unripe cherry laying on the ground. I looked up at the tree where it had fallen from and saw a whole bunch of cherries beginning to grow. It was then when it hit me; I don’t have to buy cherries anymore! Over the last week I discovered we have 4 different cherry-trees, apple-trees and walnut-trees! I mean, if I had known earlier (and part of my brain did have this information already, it just didn’t register) I would have used my own walnuts, apples and so on for my baking! Better late than never, I made a Cherry – Almond Loaf Cake with my own home-grown cherries!

Cherry - Almond Loaf Cake recipe: Nigella Lawson - How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Ingredients:
- 1 cup natural-colored glace cherries
- 1 2/3 cups self-rising cake flour
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 2 to 3 drops almond extract
- ½ cup ground almonds (I subsituted this for ½ cup cake flour and 2 extra drops almond extract)
- 6 tablespoons milk

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Halve the cherries, wash them in a colander under cold water, then pat them dry, toss them in some flour, and shake well to get rid of excess.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs and almond extract, then gently fold in the remaining flour and ground almonds. Fold in the cherries, then the milk and spoon the thick mixture into a 9 X 5-inch loaf pan, lined and buttered.
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave in the pan on a wire rack until completely cooled.


Our backyard with a bunch of cherry-trees way in the back.

My cherries!

Cherry-halves dipped in flour.

And an hour later... Cherry - almond loaf cake!

The cake is very light and dense. The almond and cherries give the cake its flavor. It is sooo good! Perfect afternoon-cake.