It is a well know fact that on of my favourite bakes is the humble Bakewell Tart. The sweet almond sponge partnered with the rich raspberry jam is one of my favourite sweet flavour combinations. Of course this elegant tart has been transformed into the more commonly known Cherry Bakewell format thanks to Mr Kipling. There is a place for the delicious Bakewell Tart but just sometimes life calls for the one essential thing a Cherry Bakewell has; a garish red Glace cherry. It’s the rule.
In the past I have reincarnated the Cherry Bakewell in biscuit form and while baking Fairy Cakes for a School Fete last week I decided to make them in Fairy Cake format. Dainty little bites of jammy, almondy goodness. Of course a healthier alternative due to lack of pastry. Who am I kidding.
I will admit these never made it to the school fete and were used to fuel not only me but Hubs & Father-in-Law who have been working on a big DIY project. For the school I made a batch of chocolate cakes dusted with edible glitter (essential School Cake Stall ingredient) and vanilla cakes with bright pink icing. It is the basic version of this recipe that I’m currently teaching in my cookery classes and out of the 300 cakes we’ve baked so far each and every cake has worked perfectly.
Cherry Bakewell Fairy Cakes
Ingredients:
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 4 tbsp raspberry jam
- 100 g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 6 glace cherries cut in half
Instructions:
-
1) Preheat oven to 180°c and line a bun tin with fairy cake liners.
-
2) In a bowl beat together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy then one at a time stir in the eggs. Don’t worry if it begins to look curdled. Mix in the almond extract.
-
3) Carefully fold in the flour until the ingredients are well combined.
-
4) Put a dessert spoon of the mixture in each case. Place a 1tsp of the jam on top of the cake batter then top with a further tsp of cake batter. The jam sinks during cooking and by the time they come out of the oven the jam will be sitting nicely at the bottom of the cake.
-
5) Bake for 15-20 min until risen and golden. Allow to cool before icing.
-
6) In a bowl mix together the icing sugar and water until you have a smooth icing paste. Smooth the icing over the cakes and top with half a glace cherry. Ideally let the icing set before eating…but you know how it is.
These are very tasty and easy to make