This was an interesting cake...I'm not sure whether I used the wrong size loaf tin but there was an awful lot of cake mixture and when I put it in the tin it was full to the brim before I'd even started baking. The recipe called for a 1kg tin...I thought I used a 2lb tin which roughly equates but when I put the cake in the oven it overflowed!
It seems that fruit is destined to sink in cakes, I did the whole dust in flour thing before mixing the cherries in but still most of them ended up at the bottom. Fortunately as some of the cherries were sprinkled on top just as the cake went in the oven, they actually stayed fairly near the surface. Does anyone have any ingenius ways of preventing fruit sinking?
Ingredients
225g butter
225 golden caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g self-raising flour
375g fresh cherries, pitted
175g white chocolate chopped
White Chocolate Frosting
100g white chocolate
140g half-fat mascarpone
White chocolate curls
Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4. Line a 1kg (2.2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment. The paper should come up higher than the sides.
Cream together the butter and sugar until it's pale and fluffy. Then add the eggs a little at a time so they don't curdle. Next add the vanilla extract before sifting in the flour, folding it in until the mixutre is smooth.
Ensure all cherries are pitted and then dust them in flour, this should help them not to sink in the cake! Add half of the cherries and half of the chocolate and gently stir into the mix. Spoon into the prepared tin before scattering the remaining chocolate and cherries on the top. Bake fro 1hr 10 - 1hr 15 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Upon removing it from the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes and then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completel
To make the frosting, bring the mascarpone to room temperature. In the meantime melt the white chocolate over a pan of water. When melted stir in 1 tbsp of the mascarpone, then beat the remainder in. Don't overbeat otherwise the frosting will go grainy. Spread over the top of the cake and finish with curls of white chocolate.
This still looks good, in spite of the tin incident. Nice frosting!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your first photo and I also LOVE the idea of fresh cherries in this loaf too....shame about it spilling over, but it does look LOVELY! Thanks for entering this in to Tea Time Treats, it's a lovely looking loaf! Karen
ReplyDeleteWow! You could never tell that you had 'issues' with this cake. It looks perfect to me. I have never thought of putting fresh cherries in a cake before but Now I've seen it I'm going to have to try it. LOVE the idea of the white chocolate topping too. Thank you so much for entering this months simple and in season. X
ReplyDeleteYou can't tell it spilt over. The flavours sound great. I baked with all kinds of berries but not cherries for some reason. I hate the fruit sinking thing! It doesn't always work but I now push the fruit into the batter when it is in the tin rather than stir it in the batter. Some still sink but you usally get a few in the middle.
ReplyDeleteNo idea why fruit sinks in cakes - I'd be interested to know the wsy to prevent that! Looks very nice, anyway. You could enter this in Alphabakes too (W for white chocolate) but I suspect you've got something else up your sleeve... every entry gets you another shot at this month's prize though!
ReplyDeleteYum, that white chocolate frosting looks so delish! One of my problems with loaf cakes is usually they don't have frosting and for me every cake needs to have frosting so I love what you've done here!!
ReplyDeletegosh this looks amazing. Love the frosting on top and cherries are just in season now.
ReplyDeleteFirst time here n wow my
ReplyDeleteMouth is watering! My fruit always sinks too :-(
I usually roll the fruit in cornflour, not plain flour (but that's just me). I think it was Delia Smith who said that sinking fruit means a issue with the recipe not the baker (usually). If a mixture isn't thick/viscous enough it will result in sinking fruit. I think your best bet is to push the fruit in the top of the batter just before going into the oven though.
ReplyDeleteEither way, this cake looks fabulous! I love the idea of a chocolate mascarpone frosting. I will have to try it! Thanks for sharing! ~ 'Baked with kindness'
Lovely combination of ingredients Laura and so pleased you fared better than my last attempt at a loaf cake- I too put a little (understatement there!) too much mixture into the tin and the whole things exploded in my oven... I'm still scraping off the dregs! Thank you so much for entering TTT!
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm dropping by via Tea Time Treats. This sounds really special. I have never baked with White Chocolate and this looks like the perfect recipe to try. The cake looks so moist.
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful Laura, especially the frosting... I always seem to have the same problem with fruit in cakes. No idea how it stays consistent throughout the cake! A baking mystery :-) xx
ReplyDeleteSorry for the little tin incident, but hey, the cake looks divine!! well done !!
ReplyDeleteooh it look so yummy!
ReplyDeleteKisses,
Macarena
Well it looks lovely. I think your idea of adding them to the bake just before going into the oven is a good one. I shall try that next time - if I remember!
ReplyDeleteit's such a shame when a cake gets too big for its tin - and such misery cleaning the oven afterwards! But, we've all been there!
ReplyDeleteLovely looking cake - the frosting in particular sounds yummy
Lovely photos Laura! You certainly wouldn't know you had problems with the cake, it looks very pretty. It's annoying when all the fruit sinks to the bottom, but at the same time it's quite nice having juicy bits at the bottom of a slice!
ReplyDelete