MARY'S CHERRY RING

Oh the famed cherry cake, madeira sponge wrapped around speckled cherries - evenly distributed, of course! Drizzled with lemon icing and decorated with the golden toasted flakes of almonds. Mary had chosen a good-en for the first technical challenge of GBBO (that's Great British Bake Off, for those too late to the party). A simple cake that required precision and a general knowledge of baking. Here I recreate the cake, not in a tent but in the comfort of my own kitchen, with no time restrictions and cameras, but my own.

I have used Mary Berry's recipe from BBC Food, but made small adaptations to suit my taste.

Ingredients:
- 200g glace cherries
- 200g self-raising flour
- 175g softened butter
- 175g caster sugar
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 75g ground almonds
- 3 eggs, beaten

To decorate:
- 100g icing sugar
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp. flaked almonds, lightly toasted
- 5 glace cherries

You will need a well greased bundt  tin or a savarin mould.

Start by preheating your oven to 180oC, and prep your tin by greasing thoroughly. Its best to use a piece of kitchen roll and rub the butter to get in all the dents and creases.

Getting the cherries evenly distributed is key to making this cake look and taste good, do this by washing the cherries in a sieve under a cold running tap and then patting dry with kitchen roll, after which dust with a tablespoon of the measured flour, this prevents them from sticking together.

For the cake, add all the ingredients together in a mixer and beat till smooth and creamy, adding the cherries last. When combined turn into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 35 - 40 minutes, test with a skewer to see if it comes out clean. Once baked leave to cool for at least an hour before decorating.

To decorate simply mix the sugar with the lemon juice and beat until smooth and shiny. Drizzle over the cake using the back of a spoon and top with the cherries and flaked almonds.



I hope you enjoy baking this, be sure to show me your bakes by using the hashtag #bakewithrachel 

Rachel XO