Cherry Almond Cakelets

If you liked the look of my mother's birthday cake, then here's the recipe.

Usually this cake would be made with pears, as pears and almonds are one of the great flavour marriages. But since we are in cherry season I've taken advantage of their abundance and included them in this cake.

Of equal importance is the topping - a mix of flaked almonds and sugar and the special extra ingredient Pearl Sugar. Pearl sugar is great as it doesn't melt and keeps it's shape, adding to the crunch of this topping. It's a battle of willpower not to eat all the topping from the cooked cakes.



Cherry Almond Cakelets
[Makes 12 cakelets]

300 grams plain flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
200 grams caster sugar
2 eggs
125ml/½ cup milk
125ml/½ cup melted butter, cooled
1 teaspoon almond essence
1 1/2 cups poached cherries, drained
flaked almonds, caster sugar and pearl sugar, for topping

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl - then stir in the caster sugar making sure it's well mixed.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, butter and almond essence, then pour into the dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed.

Scatter in the drained cherries and then fold these through taking care not to overwork the mixture.

Three quarter fill your moulds then sprinkle over with some flaked almonds and caster sugar and for a little extra crunch, some pearl sugar.





Bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden and cooked through. If you feel that they are browning too quickly, lower the temperature.

Place on a wire rack to cool.




For this batch I've made 6 cakelets using 6cm/2.5 inch square moulds and 2 stars using 12cm/5 inch diameter moulds - if you like you can use other shaped moulds or even make it as one normal sized cake.




Tagged with Sweet Food