The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!

I bet you are wondering if Rosie has lost her marbles. Fear not my friends, my marbles still are chinking around in my brain, well I hope so, *giggle*.

I will first start with the word ugly; this is just how I looked last Saturday. My ongoing back condition had raised its ugly head once again, and here was I walking like the hunchback of Notre Dame. I definitely had that distinctive hunch, lent over walking and it wasn’t a pretty sight, it did verge on the ugly! I am taking things slowly and each day as it comes with my back once again.

Bad, well this word came into play because Mr. R. (hubby) had promised me a treat with his - YES HIS – credit card, to a kitchen and home ware store last weekend! You see, because of the Notre Dame experience above, I did not have the pleasure of hammering his credit card; who me, no, not I, how could do such a thing – my lips are sealed *cough*....... Let’s see what this weekend brings *wink* *wink*.

Now for the GOOD, the lovely Katie over at Katiecakes had her first Blog Giveaway, I am SO thrilled and SO excited to tell you that I won!! I was totally shocked and taken back to learn this news; I had to pinch myself to see if it was true! The Giveaway is a gorgeous baking book from Harry Eastwood, Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache. I have been yearning to own this book since it first came out! Katie asked which unusual ingredient you have, or would like to bake with and how you would use it. This is my answer; my ingredient would have to be beetroot because I have been pondering on making a red velvet cake without all the red colouring. Hopefully the beetroot would stain the sponge enough and with veggies included it’s got to be healthy don’t you think ???

Thank you Katie SO much, I am extremely honoured and thrilled to be receiving this awesome book! If you have not visited Katie’s Blog yet, I fully recommend a visit as you are definitely missing out on such a treat of fantastic baked goodies.

*Phew*, now let us catch our breaths after all this news!!

I thought I would offer you a simple but delicious little bake today. This cake would be ideal to serve as a pudding with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or even my favourite, lashings of custard. It has a seam of squidgy cherry conserve running through, (much akin to a jam-filled doughnut), the light fluffy almond sponge, with a little crunch from the flaked almonds scattered over the top. In my opinion, it has much of the distinctive flavours of a Cherry Bakewell cake and just as every bit as scrumptious.

Cherry and Almond Cake

Makes a 900g (2 lb) Loaf cake

Ingredients
175g (3 oz) softened butter
150g (5 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 – 6 tbsp milk
150g (5 oz) self -raising (self- rising) flour
100g (4 oz) ground (almond meal) almonds
6 tbsp cherry conserve
20g (¾ oz) flaked almonds
Icing sugar to dust

You will need a 900g (2lb) loaf tin – greased with a little butter and lined with baking parchment.

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add a little at a time of the beaten egg to the mixture until fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of the milk. Fold in the flour and ground almonds with a spatula. If the mixture appears a little too thick, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk and incorporate it into the mixture until well combined. Spoon half the mixture into the loaf tin and level off with a spatula. Spoon over the cherry conserve leaving a gap all around the edges. Spoon the remaining mixture of the cherry conserve to cover and level off with a spatula. Scatter the flaked almonds over the top. Place in the preheated oven to bake for 1 hr - 1 hr 15 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the baking parchment and dust with icing sugar.

Lastly, cut yourself a slice of this magnificent cake, and then sit back, relax and enjoy.