Mary Berry Cherry Bakewell Cake Recipes

CHERRY BAKEWELL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and make sure there's a shelf ready in the middle. Butter and line the bases of two 20cm round sandwich tins with baking paper.
• Using electric beaters, beat together all the cake ingredients with a pinch of salt until smooth, then spoon into the tins and level the tops. Bake for 30 mins or until golden and springy. Don't open the oven before 25 mins cooking time has passed.
• When they're ready, cool the sponges for a few mins, then tip out of the tins and cool completely on a wire rack. Make sure the top of one of the cakes is facing up as you'll want a smooth surface for the icing later on.
• When cool, put one sponge on a serving plate, then spread with jam. Sandwich the second sponge on top. Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the water or lemon juice, then stir until smooth and thick. Spread evenly over the top and let it dribble over the sides. Scatter with the nuts and leave to set for a few mins before cutting.

MARY'S CHERRY CAKE

Steps:

• 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.

MARY BERRY(-ISH) CHERRY BAKEWELL TART

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor (you could also do this by hand using a pastry cutter or your fingers), pulse together the Butter and Flour, until the largest chunks of butter are the size of large breadcrumbs or peas. Add the salt and confectioners' sugar, and egg, pulse again. Slowly add the ice water while pulsing until the ingredients just begin to form a soft dough.
• On a floured work surface, pour out the dough and roll into a 12″ circle. Transfer the circle to your 9" tart pan or springform, allowing the dough to cover the sides of the pan about 1-2 inches. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 390F. Line the bottom and sides of the tart shell with parchment paper (or foil would work) and cover with pie weights or dried beans (see Notes). Bake 15 minutes, remove weights or beans, then the parchment. Return to oven for 5 minutes until crust appears dry. Cool on a rack for several minutes while preparing filling.
• Spread the jam across the slightly cooled crust.
• Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the almond flour, egg, salt and almond extract and mix until incorporated. The mixture should be quite thick, sort of like thick oatmeal. Spoon on top of the jam in the shell and smooth with an offset knife.
• Sprinkle the flattened top of the filling with the sliced almonds.
• Reduce oven heat to 355F. Bake 25-35 minutes until top is golden and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the tart comes out clean. Let the tart cool in the pan until completely cool.
• When ready to serve, sift confectioners sugar over tart.

RASPBERRY BAKEWELL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and base-line and grease a deep 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Blitz the ground almonds, butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla extract in a food processor until well combined.
• Spread half the mix over the cake tin and smooth over the top. Scatter the raspberries over, then dollop the remaining cake mixture on top and roughly spread - you might find this easier to do with your fingers. Scatter with flaked almonds and bake for 50 mins until golden. Cool, remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar to serve.