Little cherry and almond cakes
An incredibly quick, one-bowl bake that you can whip up in minutes
Makes 12
Ingredients
- 90g Egg whites (from 2-3 large eggs)
- 100g Caster sugar
- 70g Ground almonds
- A pinch of salt
- ½tsp Almond extract
- 35g Plain flour
- 90g Butter melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing
- 18 Cherries fresh or canned, halved and stoned
Method
Step 1
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7. Grease a 12-hole cupcake or bun tin well with butter.
Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites lightly with a hand whisk until a little frothy (but definitely not to soft peaks). Whisk in the caster sugar. Add the almonds, salt, almond extract and flour, then whisk again until just combined. Slowly pour in the melted butter, whisking continuously, until you have a thick batter.
Step 3
Divide the batter between the holes of the muffin tin, then top each cake with 3 cherry halves. Bake for 7 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4 and bake for another 3–6 minutes, until the cakes are golden and a skewer inserted in the centres comes out clean. Leave to cool a little before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully before eating.
Extract taken from The Botanical Kitchen by Elly McCausland (£26, Bloomsbury Absolute). Photography © Polly Webster
