Fathers day has come around again, giving me a great excuse to get in the kitchen and bake a cake for my dad. This year I decided to go for a cherry and almond cake, as this is something I have not made before. Most recipes call for using glace cherries but I wanted to try substituting these for fresh cherries as they are in season right now. This was a bit risky because using fresh fruit in cakes can affect the texture as they release water whilst the cake is baking. I decided to go for it anyway as I like to experiment a little! I halved and stoned my cherries then soaked them overnight in amaretto liqueur and a little sugar. The recipe I used contained both ground almonds and flour, but I also added almond extract to bring out the flavour of the almonds.

Before adding the cherries to the cake mixture, I coated them in a little flour to try and prevent them sinking to the bottom. I also kept a few aside and placed them on top of the cake mixture once it was in the tin, so that some could be seen once the cake was baked.
About 10 minutes before the cake had finished baking, I used the amaretto syrup from which the cherries had been soaked in to brush over the top of the cake in order to keep it nice and moist plus packed with almond flavour. For a bit of decoration, I drizzled glace icing over the cake- quite a nice finishing touch I thought!
The resulting cake turned out really well, and the texture was beautifully moist without being too heavy or pudding like. Most importantly, my dad thought it was delicious, but then again he says that about most things!

I've been wanting to have a go at making bakewell tarts for a while, and as I had some leftover frangipan mixture in the fridge I thought I'd try making some mini ones in a small tart pan that my mum has. It was quite difficult to do this as I didn't really have the right size pastry cutter and I slightly over-filled them which meant there was less space for the icing-boo hoo! They are not as neat as I would have liked them to be, but for a first attempt I think they are quite cute :)

I had some leftover pastry in the fridge so this Sunday I decided to make a twist on the cherry bakewell tart. I thought almonds and apricot would be a great combination, but I also added marzipan to the tarts for an extra surprise! I put a teaspoon of apricot jam in the bottom of each pastry round, then cut out a small piece of marzipan to cover the jam. Finally I topped this with frangipan and flaked almonds. I was quite happy with how they turned out but unfortunately they just were not sweet enough for me! Next time I will definitely add more jam and marzipan! However, I'm glad I tried something new, and I have lots of new ideas for other things I want to try in the future. Watch this space! :) x