A simple cake that has gone down well at recent bake sales! Much abridged recipe for reference.
4 med/large eggs & the same weight (~250g) in each of caster sugar, self raising flour and butter
1 tsp baking powder
50g ground almonds
vanilla essence
1 tub glace cherries
cherry or other jam
~6-10 tbsp icing sugar
handful flaked almonds
Set the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan, and grease and line a 20cm round tin.
Make the sponge (butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder) by creaming or all-in-one. Add 50g ground almonds to the mix, and a few drops of almond essence, and mix well.
From a tub of glace cherries, save 4-6 good ones. Chop the rest in half and rinse off the sugar syrup. Dry them on kitchen towel and coat in flour before stirring gently into the cake mix. This means they won't sink :)
Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until cooked according to the skewer test. You might also put slightly less in the tin and make a couple of small cupcakes with the rest, to appease small helpers who aren't allowed a slice of the finished object.
When cool, cut in half horizontally and sandwich with cherry jam or another of your choice.
To decorate, mix icing sugar with water to a thick but dribble-able consistency and decorate the top however you wish, all over or arty squiggles etc. Toast some flaked almonds and scatter on top, then finish with the cherries, halved and distributed as you wish (depends if you are aiming for 12 polite slices or 8 more generous ones!). Sacrificing one or two of these cherries for the optional cupcakes may help avert tantrums.
