- Serves 8 to 10 - Ready in 2 hours (includes 1 hour of cooling time) -
Gather together for the cake...
225g butter, well softened (if your house is as chilly as mine, then the butter should be thinly sliced and warmed for 3 - 5 minutes in the heating-up oven until soft, but not fully melted).
75g ground almonds.
200g light brown / demerara brown sugar.
4 medium, free-range eggs (slightly beaten in a small bowl, to combine the yolks and whites).
2 tsp almond essence.
200g plain flour.
2.5 tsp baking powder.
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk.
Gather together for the filling...
EITHER (if your mascarpone has a 'high' 43%+ fat content)...
3 tbsp (50g) icing sugar, SIEVED.
250g tub full-fat mascarpone, it must have a fat content of at least 43% (Morrisons and Tesco mascarpone works well) or else it will split and go liquid-y when it is mixed with the icing sugar.
100g (3 tbsp) cherry jam (or use raspberry / strawberry).
OR (if your mascarpone has a 'lower' i.e. under 43% fat content)...
125g mascarpone cheese.
300ml double cream (MUST be double cream as it needs to whip up, DO NOT use Elmlea).
1 tsp vanilla extract.
2 tbsp (30g) icing sugar.
100g (3 tbsp) cherry jam (or use raspberry / strawberry).
Gather together for the topping...
175g icing sugar, to make the icing.
1 tsp almond essence.
5 - 6 tsp cold water.
12 - 16 glace cherries, for decoration.
Get baking...
1. Prepare TWO 18cm (7 inch) diameter circular baking tins by base-lining them with baking parchment and greasing the base and sides with butter. Or better still line them with cut-to-size reusable baking liner (such as this from Lakeland).
2. Preheat the oven to 160 C (140 C fan) or Gas 3.
3. Now warm the 225g of sliced butter in the heating-up oven for 3 - 5 minutes (set a timer so you don’t forget it!) - use a small, robust ceramic or metal bowl, and be careful when removing the hot bowl. Some of the butter will actually melt (which isn't a disaster), most will still be solid yet soft.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium-large bowl (the bowl of your electric mixer if you don't want to do all the mixing by hand) stir together the 75g of almonds with the 200g of brown sugar, this will take about 5 seconds with a spoon.
5.Then tip the 225g of oven-softened butter into the sugar / almonds mix and beat for a minute or so (by hand or with an electric mixer), until the mixture is fluffy. Keep stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl / the beater to ensure full mixing.
6. Now add the 4 medium eggs (slightly beaten first in a small bowl, to combine the yolks and whites) and the 2 tsp of almond essence, DON'T stir yet.
7. Sieve in the 200g of plain flour and the 2.5 tsp of baking powder and stir the bowl of mixture briefly but well - for about 20 seconds with a spoon.
8. Add the 1/4 cup of milk and mix just enough (by hand or with the mixer) to incorporate it so there are no dry patches. You don't want to over-mix or else the cake will be tough once baked.
9. Divide the (thick) mixture evenly between the two 7″ circular cake tins and gently smooth the mixture (in each) with the back of a spoon.
10. Bake the cakes for 45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. The edges will be browning slightly and shrinking away from the tin, but expect the cake surfaces to remain light in colour even when done.
11. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave each in its tin for 20 minutes to cool and firm up.
12. Then remove the cakes carefully from the tins and cool them thoroughly on racks for AT LEAST an hour (as the filling will slide out if the cakes are still warm).
13. Meanwhile, check the fat content of your mascarpone...
13(a). If your mascarpone has a 'high' 43%+ fat content: Into a medium bowl, SIEVE the 3 tbsp of icing sugar (otherwise your filling will have unsightly clumps). Add the 250g mascarpone and and stir VERY gently for up to 30 seconds. This simple two-ingredient filling ONLY works if your mascarpone has a very high fat content to stabilise the mixture, a lower than 43% fat content will mean the filling quickly becomes runny and leaks out of the cake.
13(b). If your mascarpone has a lower than 43% fat content, add double cream to stabilise it: In a medium bowl, place the 125g mascarpone, the 300ml of double cream and the 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix with a handheld whisk for about 30 seconds. Sieve in the 2 tbsp of icing sugar gradually and stir until fully mixed, this will take about 1 minute. It will be very runny at this stage - fear not. Then use an electric whisk for 2 - 5 minutes, until soft peaks form.
14. To assemble the two cakes; put the 3 tbsp of jam in a small bowl and stir to loosen, then spread it onto one of the cakes. Next spread the mascarpone mixture over the jam (you probably won't need all of the mascarpone mixture - let someone enjoy licking out the bowl afterwards!) and top the mascarpone layer with the other cake.
15. To ice the TOP of the cake; into a medium bowl SIEVE the 175g of icing sugar. Add the 1 tsp of almond essence and the 5 - 6 tsp (teaspoons) of cold water, a spoonful at a time until you have made a very thick glace icing. Don't make the icing runny or it will slide off the cake.
16. Spoon the glace icing onto the top cake and carefully spread it– keep wetting the spoon that you are using to help smooth the icing more easily. Take it right to the edge so it just starts to dribble down the side in places. Use the 12 - 16 glace cherries to decorate the cake whilst the icing is still wet so it won't 'wrinkle' when you push the cherries in. Either dot them around the perimeter of the cake at regular intervals (like a clock face), or place them outlining the shape of a heart for a Valentine cake.
17. Keep the cake in the fridge (due to the mascarpone) and eat within 3 days - it will probably have been polished off well before then...
Leftover Mascarpone tip - add the leftover 1/2 tub of mascarpone to a homemade curry shortly before serving (it will need only 5-10 minutes more in the oven after the Mascarpone has been stirred in), to give a creamy delicious texture. It works well as a cheeky addition to this chicken curry recipe and this rhubarb curry recipe.