Cherry Bakewell Loaf Cake

This cheeky Cherry Bakewell cake was originally suppose to be a "using-up-leftover-lemon"-drizzle cake, resulting in a mad panic when I discovered my left over Lemons were no longer drizzle suitable and were shortly off to the lemon heaven in the shape of my food waste bin (RIP extra special lovely lemons..). After a few moments of staring at my kitchen full of baking goodies looking for inspiration, I decided to reinvent one of my favourite cupcake flavours into the shape of this yummy loaf cake (the loaf tin was already lined after all!). 

To enhance the almond flavour to match that of your standard cherry bakewell, I included some ground almonds as well as some almond extract. My almond extract isn't particularly strong, so if you have a good quality extract you may wish to reduce the amount you are adding. I also used one of my favourite flavoured icing sugars, Sugar and Crumbs Black Cherry, because lets face it - you can never have too much cherry in your cherry bakewell!


Ingredients
250g Self-raising flour
2tsp Baking Powder
100g Golden Caster Sugar
85g Ground Almonds
150g Glace Cherries
2  Beaten Eggs
50ml Vegetable Oil
175 Semi-skimmed Milk
1 tbsp Almond Extract
50g Black Cherry Icing Sugar
50g Icing Sugar
2-3tbsp of Cherry Juice/Water
A handful of flaked almonds and glace cherries

How-to

1. Pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees celsius and line your loaf tin.
2. Sift all of your dry ingredients into a bowl and stir in your glace cherries ensuring they're covered in flour (to prevent them sinking in your cake!)
3. In your mixer, combine your wet ingredients.
4. Gradually add your dry ingredients into your wet, beating at a low speed. 
5. Pour your cake mixture in to your tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6. If you have used a loaf wrapper remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool (If you have lined your tin but not used a loaf wrapped, I would recommend leaving it to cool a little longer in the tin to prevent it cracking).
7. Meanwhile mix your two icing sugars with 2tbsp of cherry juice (if using cherries from a jar) or water until it is of a thick but pourable consistency.
8. Once your cake is cool, pour over the icing and decorate with flaked almonds and leftover cherries.  

If you'd like to see more fancy, artistic photos taken by my clever other-half, follow  me on instagram @thebakenextdoor .