Old-fashioned Cherry Cake

It you want a cake with the cherries suspended in the cake try this recipe. This is an English recipe so it calls for caster sugar. Use superifne sugar or put regular sugar in a food processor.

8 oz. butter
8 oz. caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
9 oz glacé cherries, quartered
4 oz ground almonds
a few drops almond flavoring
2 level tablespoons demerara sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

You will also need a round cake tin, 8 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep. Line the base and sides of the tin with greaseproof paper or baking parchment, then grease the paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light, pale and fluffy. Now gradually beat in the whisked egg a little at a time. Then sift the flour and baking powder together, and carefully fold this into the creamed mixture using a metal spoon. Toss the quartered cherries in together with the ground almonds, and carefully fold these into the cake, adding one or two drops of almond essence and the milk. Now spoon the cake mix into the prepared tin, level off the top with the back of a spoon, then sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour, cover with foil and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes, or until the cake has shrunk away from the side of the tin and the centre is springy to touch. Cool the cake in the tin for 15 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack to cool. Store in a tin.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith's Book of Cakes.