March recipe: Cherry cake
This is a simple and delicious cake. It’s one of the many variations of pound cake, so called because it was traditionally made with one pound each of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. That sort of quantity is rather large for most households (unless you’re feeding a family gathering or a church fete), so this version uses a quarter-pound of each of the basic ingredients. It uses glace cherries, so can be made at any time of year. I think it suits the spring, when lengthening days and rising temperatures call for something slightly lighter than the dense fruit cakes that suit winter.
Here’s the recipe.
Cherry cake
4 oz (approx 100 g) butter
4 oz (approx 100 g) sugar. I use golden caster sugar or light brown soft sugar
2 eggs
4 oz (approx 100 g) self-raising flour
2 oz (approx 50 g) glace cherries
Halve the glace cherries.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat the eggs and stir into the creamed mixture.
Stir in the flour.
Stir in the chopped cherries and mix thoroughly.
Spread in a greased shallow baking tin, about 7” (approx 18 cm) square, and level the top.
Bake in a moderate oven, about 170 C, for about 30 minutes. It’s done when the sponge springs back if pressed lightly with a finger, and has shrunk slightly away from the edges of the tin.
Cut into pieces, lift the pieces out of the tin and cool on a wire rack. I usually cut 12 pieces.
Keeps about a week in an airtight tin, or can be frozen.
4 comments:
This looks like an interesting recipe. I may have to try it, thanks! I love pound cake.
Constance - if you try it, I hope you enjoy it! Pound cake is a great basis for all sorts of cake recipes.
Sounds both delicious and straightforward! Can you substitute dried fruit like apricots, peaches or dates for the glace cherries?
Annis - yes, or nuts (e.g. walnuts). Pound cake has lots of variations, take your pick :-)
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