In Australia, summer means fresh cherries and the ones I got recently from CherryHill Orchard are so plump, juicy and delicious. You can eat it out straight or use them in a lovely cherry sponge cake. The recipe I love using is Mary Berry’s English Cherry cake recipe that has a little extra texture from the ground almonds. Dusting the cherries with flour helps stop them sinking to the bottom of the cake.
A CherryHill cherry, a 100% Australian owned family business, has been handpicked from one of their Victorian orchards, packed in their Yarra Valley facility and delivered to store within 2 days of harvest.
Also did you know cherries are rich in anthocynanins. Not only does the red colour act like a ‘sunscreen’ for the fruit, they are also filled with super antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties to protect your overall health, from healthy joints to glowing skin. I have a family member who suffers from gout and often eat cherries to help reduce the pain.
Ingredients
- 200g fresh cherries
- 225g self-raising flour
- 175g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
- 175g caster sugar
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest only
- 50g ground almonds
- 3 large free-range eggs
For the decoration
- 175g icing sugar
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 15g flaked almonds, toasted
- Handful of fresh cherries
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease a 23cm/9in bundt tin or savarin mould with butter.
- Cut the cherries into quarters. Set aside five of the quartered cherries for the decoration later. Put the rest of the quartered cherries in a sieve and rinse under running water. Drain well then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper and toss in two tablespoons of the flour.
- Measure all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and beat well for two minutes to mix thoroughly. Lightly fold in the cherries. Turn into the prepared tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until well risen, golden-brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
- For the icing, mix the icing sugar together with the lemon juice to a thick paste. Drizzle over the cooled cake using the back of a spoon, sprinkle over the toasted almonds and reserved cherries.
This post has been created in collaboration with Cherry Hill Orchards