Delicious almond sponge with cherries and a layer of gooey marzipan in the centre.
Tomorrow there is a coffee morning at my son’s school, as at many other places around the country, to raise money for Macmillan. I’ll be going along to support the school and this brilliant charity and I’ll be doing my bit by drinking lots of tea and coffee and sampling lots of cake!! This year I’m taking this marzipan and cherry cake as my contribution to the baking.
I’m really hoping my cake this year is more successful than last year’s effort – coffee cake with white chocolate icing. The cake tasted delicious, the problem was that I didn’t put the tin lid on properly.
That combined with the fact that I tripped as I was walking out of the front door meant that the cake ended up all over my hall floor rather than in the school hall where it should have been (actually there were three pieces that managed to stay in the tin, but I wasn’t sure I could turn up with three pieces of slightly battered looking cake so I ate them at home!).
Since then I’ve invested in a much sturdier cake tin and I’ll be wearing sensible shoes, so fingers crossed no mishaps tomorrow.
Marzipan and Cherry Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 150 g unsalted butter - softened
- 2 large eggs
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 g self raising flour + a little extra for dusting the cherries
- 150 g ground almonds
- 25 g flaked almonds
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 150 g glacé cherries
- 150 g marzipan
- A little icing sugar – to help roll out the marzipan
RECIPE VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan
- Butter and line a deep 18cm cake tin – alternatively I use Delia Bake-O-Glide reusable cake tine liners which don’t need to be buttered
- Beat the butter (150g) and caster sugar (150g) until light and fluffy
- Add the eggs one at a time, and beat well after after adding the first egg before adding the second.
- Add the almond extract (1 tsp)
- Fold in the self-raising flour (150g) and ground almonds (150g)
- Prepare the cherries by cutting half (75g) in half, keeping the other half (75g) whole
- In a seperate bowl, sprinkle a little flour over the cherries and mix to lightly coat the cherries – coating the cherries in flour will help to stop them sinking to the bottom of the cake when it bakes
- Fold the cherries into the cake mixture
- Roll out the marzipan (150g) into a circle roughly the same size as the tin – sprinkle a little icing sugar on the worktop and rolling pin to prevent the marzipan from sticking
- Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and even out the top
- Lay the marzipan on top of the mixture in the cake tin then add the other half of the mixture and even out the top.
- Scatter over the flaked almond (25g)
- Bake for approximately 50 minutes – You can use a skewer to check if it’s done, however a little of the marzipan may stick to the skewer meaning it doesn’t come out clean even when the cake is cooked.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes, remove from the tin and transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely (although the cake tastes delicious eaten warm.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Peanut-Free (contains Tree Nuts)
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
Kathleen Smith says
Hi
would this recipe work with jam instead of cherries , I have made it previously with cherries and it was delicious but my grandchildren don’t like them
Charlotte Oates says
It should do, You could swirl the jam through the mixture or add a layer above the marzipan. Alternatively, you could switch the cherries for fresh raspberries.
LW says
Made this for the first time and my husband has been eating it with a layer of jam spread on it! So a layer of jam on top of the marzipan is a great idea.
I couldn’t get almond essence so used Amaretto instead, and soaked the cherries in Amaretto too for a boozy adult twist.
The cake was a massive hit thank you!
Julie says
Great recipe. Second time I have made this. So easy to do. Love the almond and cherry flavour, love the marzipan too! Family love this cake !!
Stephanie B says
As previous comments have said the batter was very thick but probably needs to be to support the layer of marzipan? I would cook it for slightly less time next time I make it & maybe a slightly thicker layer or marzipan (as I love it!) but there certainly weren’t any complaints from the gannets who consumed it! I baked in a square cake tin so I could cut into squares for a packed lunch. Thanks for a lovely recipe 🙂
Sara says
This is a big family favourite in my house, it never lasts long.
Becky says
My cake is still in the oven, and it smells great, but I’m concerned about the batter. When I tried to spoon it out, it is so thick it’s like a thick biscut dough (like there’s not enough liquid.) Is this because I used almond flour instead of grinding my own almonds? I’ll let you know how it turns out 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
It is a very thick cake mixture. If you have a look at the video you can see what it should be like.
Melissa says
I’d like to make this for someone’s birthday but they donr like glacé cherries. Would it work if I used sultanas ?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
It should work just fine. I’d recommend soaking the sultanas in water, tea, or your favourite spirit for an hour or so before including them in the cake as it’ll mean the are juicier when baked in the cake.
Kate says
Lovely cake , my new favourite to bake and eat!
Anne Sweeney says
A beautiful tasty cake my family love it.
Richard Lloyd says
I often make cakes for my office co-workers. Looking for a new cake to try, I actually offered the last person a choice of 12 Cherry & Almond cakes from Google images and she chose yours.
I was a bit worried about the stiffness of the mixture and cooking time probably only needed 45 minutes in my oven, so I was a bit worried about giving it to her, but today she came in and told me it was wonderful!
Many thanks for a very successful cake.
Janis says
This is a lovely tasting cake. I make it for my friend and her husband a lot. I usually make the full recipe and then take them half of the cake. Would it work if I halved the recipe as I have some small cake tins and would I then reduce cooking time by half ? Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve made these cakes as cupcakes before, they took about 25 minutes in the oven when I made them.
Trish says
Hi Charlotte, thanks! Can this cake be made then served 3/4 days later?
Charlotte Oates says
It’s best eaten fresh but should be OK after 3-4 days.
Max says
Hello!
This recipe is exactly what we fancy making at the moment!
Could you help with increasing the ingredients to fit a 20cm pan?
Many thanks
Charlotte Oates says
You’d need to increase to multiply all of your ingredients by 1.25.
Easy for everything except the eggs as you can’t buy 2.5 of those 🙂 For the eggs I’d suggest cracking three into a bowl, lightly beating them and then measuring 145g of egg into the cake mixture.
Max says
Many thanks! Then maybe I should increase it to a 22cm size pan,
Would multiplying all ingredients by 2.5 work in this case?
Charlotte Oates says
Multiply by 1.5 for that size of tin (so three eggs).
Annie says
Hi Charlotte, do you think this cake would work in a loaf tin and if so what size? 2lb maybe? Also, can it be frozen? Many thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it in a loaf tin but it should work. A 2lb tin would be the right size. It may take a little longer to cook. Check it at the time stated in the recipe and if it’s not quite done cover it loosely with foil (to stop the top burning) and pop it back in for a little longer.
I’ve not tried freezing it but I extect it would be absolutely fine.
Liz jones says
Have made this cake several times now and everyone loves it
Such an easy recipe to , I do find that I end up cooking for more like an hour than 50mins but that might just be my cooker
Definitely recommend making this cake
Yas says
Can we use any berry instead of cherry?
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried other berries but they should be fine. My only slight concern would be that the liquid content might affect the texture of the cake a little (as I use glace cherries in this cake).
Holly says
Tried this recipe today and oh wow, what a cake! So easy to make and it tastes delicious! I have no doubt that this cake will be gone by tomorrow. Even the darkened edges taste so good when contrasted against the sticky/sweet middle. It’s such a shame that the middle drops quite a bit. I did try to add more batter in the centre which worked whilst it was baking but then the middle dropped whilst cooling. Definitely will be a cake I do again and again!
Charlotte Oates says
That annoys me too but it tastes so good I’ve never tried to fix it! I really should try sometime.
Adwoa says
Thanks for the video, I wouldn’t have known the steps. I don’t have ground almonds, can I still continue?
Charlotte Oates says
They’re a pretty fundamental part of the recipe in terms of flavour and texture so I don’t think it would work. Sorry.
Angela Cogley says
Hi, would this work with the marzipan chopped up rather than layered, I like marzipan but find it gives me toothache if I eat lots of it, or could i grate it maybe.
Charlotte Oates says
Yes it would work fins both ways. The only think to ensure is that there’s no marzipan on the top surface of the cake while it’s baking as it’ll burn and have a bitter taste. If you find marzipan too sweet you can also make this cake without the marzipan layer it’ll work fine and you’ll still have a good almond flavour from the ground almonds and almond extract in the mixture.
juls says
love the taste but can’t get it right – when i fold in the almonds and flour it becomes a thick mass that barely covers the pa. when halved – is it meant to be so thick you have to spoon and then spread?
Charlotte Oates says
The mixture is quite thick and it does need to be spread rather than poured. If you take a look at the video you should see what the consistency should be like.
Mark says
Can this be a gluten free option?
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried making this cake gluten free but I’ve had comments from people that have switched the self-raising flour for a gluten-free alternative and have said that it worked really well.