Boozy Cherry, Plum and Almond Cake

Recently I have been working on a magazine titled NZ Lifestyle Block, which features stories about self-sufficiency, organic gardening, orchard care, herbs and my favorites, cheese making, preserving and cooking from your home garden. Its a great read, edited by a passionate woman called Nadene who in my eyes, is definitely living the dream. 

Of course, I  imagine her starting her day looking out her bay windows in her self built home (TRUE  but with her dad's help!), at the lambs who are prancing around in the front garden, whilst she decides shall I have free range duck eggs on homemade crusty bread for breakfast and wondering if her homemade wine has fermented sufficiently for wine o'clock.

However the truth is she works a hell of a lot harder than that, and booze is actually not her thing which from time to time works in my favor. Being an editor she receives a lot of different products to try and this week she received Morrello Cherries seeped in Kirsch by a company called schnappdragon. To be honest, I just fell in love with the name and decided there and then I was going to make something with these boozy cherries (20% alcohol to be exact). 

Now, if you remember I may have mentioned, Vanessa and I are currently 8 months pregnant, so alcohol is a not on the menu, however used in cooking, we decided it was ok as the alcohol would be absorbed in the baking process, but still retain the kick. A big thank you to Nadene for the treats x


What is Kirsch?
Kirschwasser is a clear, colourless fruit brandy traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-coloured cultivar of the sour cherry. The cherries are fermented complete (that is, including their stones).

Boozy cherry, plum, and almond cake
Serves 6-8 (or 2 very pregnant woman!!!)


What you need
4 eggs
150g caster sugar
125g butter (soft)
300g almond meal (ground almonds)
50g flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 - 3 Black Doris plums (sliced)
2 Tbsp Boozy Cherries (I used Morello Cherries seeped in Kirsch from Schnappdragon) - you could also use blueberries, raspberries, or load it up with plums.


How to make
Set oven temp to 180C. Grease a 25cm quick release cake tin and line the base with baking paper (I cut baking paper into a circle and placed into the bottom of the tin). Beat eggs and sugar together until pale. Add butter. Fold in almonds, flour and baking powder. Scoop mixture into tin. Fan out plum slices around tin. Add boozy cherries between plum strips (up to you how many, I used 2 Tbsp). Bake for 35-40mins. Dust with icing sugar (optional). Serve with cream, greek yoghurt or marscapone.