Cherry And Almond Traybake

We arrived home from Chester late this afternoon, after having had a very successful house hunting experience. Whew!

We were so lucky. All the pieces have fallen into place, and at the end of this month we will be moving up there to take up residence in a lovely little 3 bedroom terrace house, with a gorgeously HUGE garden in the back, and a verypretty little garden in the front, with enough parking space for our car, so that it won't have to be parked on the road.



It's all carpeted, freshly painted, well appointed, and the kitchen is quite nice. It is a bit smaller than I have been spoiled with having here in our little cottage, but . . . I will get used to it in time. I now just want it to all be over with, and to be settled in at the other end. Moving is always such a pain, and can be quite stressful. We are trying to be as organized as we can, so that things go as smoothly as possible.



To celebrate our homecoming and our great luck in having found such a fabulous place to live I baked Todd a tasty Cherry and Almond Traybake this evening.



Calling it a Traybake is just a fancy way of saying snacking cake . . . for really that is all that this is.



Moist and tasty and stogged full of glace cherries. Nicely crunchy on the top with toasted almonds and just the hint of lemon in the crumb. This went down a real treat! (I am thinking a sticky lemon glaze would be just perfect on this.)



*Cherry and Almond Traybake*
Makes one 12 by 9 inch cake
Printable Recipe

A delicious snacking cake stogged full of almonds, glace cherries and just the merest hint of lemon. You can use fresh stoned cherries when in season instead of the glace cherries, but you must eat the cake up quickly then, as it will not keep well. NOT a problem!!! (You would need 1 pound of sweet black cherries, stoned)

8 ounces glace cherries (I like to use the natural coloured ones)
10 ounces self raising flour
2 level tsp baking powder
8 ounces softened butter
8 ounces caster sugar
the finely grated zest of 2 lemons
(I use my microplane grater)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
3 ounces ground almonds
5 large eggs
1 ounce flaked almonds
TO finish:
Icing sugar to dust over top

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a 12 by 9 inch tray bake tin, and line the base with parchment paper. (You may also use a roasting tin of the same size)

Cut the cherries into quarters. Place in a sieve and rinse well under running water. Drain and then dry well with some paper towels. Set aside.

Measure all the remaining cake ingredients, except for the flaked almonds into a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk for about 2 minutes, until mixed thoroughly. Fold in the well dried cherries. Spread in the prepared pan, leveling it off evenly and then sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over top.

Bake for 40 minutes, until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the tin and springs back when lightly touched in the centre. Leave to cool in the tin. Once cool, dust with icing sugar and then cut into squares to serve.