Gluten-free baking: cherry and almond cake

This is a cake that my mum used to make for me when I was little. It was a recipe from her mother, Granny Mac, another wonderful baker who passed on her gift to my mum. I absolutely adore cherry cake. Glacé cherries are one of those ingredients that you either love or hate; there is no room for in-between emotion.

I think that there’s something very comforting and heart-warming about cherry cake. I always try to use natural glacé cherries, which have a darker, more real-life colour than the bright red ones.

Here’s the most important step of the recipe: to ensure that your cherries do not sink, follow mum’s step below. Make sure to wash the syrup off the cherries and roll them in the ground almonds, as it is the weight of the syrup that causes the cherries to sink to the bottom of the cake.

So now that you know all our secrets, roll up your sleeves and give it a go; gluten-free style of course.

This recipe is from Denise O’ Callaghan’s book Recipes from my Gluten-Free Kitchen (Mercier Press). Denise is the founder of Denise’s Delicious Gluten-Free Bakery, whose product range is available across Ireland from the major supermarkets, artisan food stores and the online store at www.delicious.ie.