Ruth's Guilty Pleasures, Cherry Van Gogh Cake.

Hello! Ruth P here,

I decided with little time that my guilty pleasure was undoubtedly 'The Antiques Roadshow'.

Having watched it as a child I have always been fascinated by old curiosities and of course their inevitable surprising value. I digress. 

I decided to re-create Van Gogh's, 'Starry Night' on a cake.

    This is the original!

 

It certainly took me a while and my baking cupboard is now a complete mess and I have just abut managed to remove all evidence of food colouring from my hands and nails. 

I also decided that the cake itself needed to be something I loved, so I set upon baking a cherry and almond sponge! 

Ingredients  8 oz (225 g) butter at room temperature  8 oz (225 g) caster sugar  4 large eggs, lightly beaten  8 oz (225 g) plain flour  ½ teaspoon baking powder  9 oz (250 g) glacé cherries, quartered  4 oz (110 g) ground almonds  a few drops almond essence  2 level tablespoons demerara sugar  1 tablespoon milk  Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C). Cream the butter and sugar together until light, pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the whisked egg a little at a time. Then sift the flour and baking powder together, and carefully fold this into the creamed mixture using a metal spoon. Toss the quartered cherries in together with the ground almonds, and carefully fold these into the cake, adding one or two drops of almond essence and the milk.  Now spoon the cake mix into the prepared tin, level off the top with the back of a spoon, then sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour, cover with foil and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes, or until the cake has shrunk away from the side of the tin and the centre is springy to touch. Cool the cake in the tin for 15 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack to cool. Store in a tin.  (I actually spooned the mix into two tins and reduced the cooking time to 40 mins)  TADAA!