Chocolate cherry Bakewell cake

An irresistible almond sponge, studded with juicy cherries and chocolate chunks, that’ll keep in your cake tin for a few days – if it lasts that long!

Prep:25 mins
Cook:1 hrs 10 mins
plus cooling

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 490
fat 32g
saturates 16g
carbs 42g
sugars 30g
fibre 2g
protein 7g
salt 0.6g

Ingredients

200g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
140g fresh cherries, halved and stoned
140g plain flour
200g golden caster sugar
3 medium eggs
1½ tsp baking powder
75g ground almonds
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
200g dark or milk chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

Method

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment. Toss the cherries in 1 tbsp of the flour, then set aside.
Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl, and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well between each addition. Fold in the remaining flour, the baking powder and ground almonds. Stir in the milk, the vanilla and almond extracts, and 100g of the chocolate with a spatula. Scrape half the cake mixture into the tin, scatter half the cherries over the top, then add the remaining cake mixture and the remaining cherries. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave in 20-sec bursts, then drizzle or pipe over the top of the cake and scatter with the almonds. Wait for the chocolate to set a bit before slicing. Will keep in the cake tin for up to 4 days.