This is an adaptation of a wonderful cake by Nicola Lamb – it uses our oil, which pairs really well with cherries! We've used tinned cherries here, but come summer, feel free to use (pitted) fresh ones. This cake has just the right amount of sweetness. The fair glug of oil gives it depth and richness. It's light and summery, but sophisticated. Also... it's extremely easy to make!
1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan and line a 23C cake tin with paper on the side and bottom.
2. Drain a can of cherries in syrup, reserving the liquid.
3. In a bowl, mix 170g of golden caster sugar, the zest of two lemons and two oranges, two large eggs, 95g of thick Greek yoghurt and 140g Honest Toil olive oil. We used a whisk, but don't overmix!
4. In another bowl, mix together 95g of semolina, 95g of ground almonds, 1tsp baking powder, 1/2tsp salt, 1/4tsp baking soda, and 1-2tsp of ground cardamom.
5. Pour your dry ingredients into your wet and mix. Then pour your batter into your cake tin, put 2/3 of the cherries into the batter, and top with demerara.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
7. As soon as it's out of the oven, pour the syrup over the cake as evenly as possible. You might need to reduce the syrup beforehand on the stove if it's too watery.
8. Let the cake cool in the tin. You can flip it over, as we've done, for an upside down effect! Serve with remaining cherries and more Greek yoghurt.
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Recipe by Tomek Moss - we met Tomek when he was still a baker/media wizard at The Dusty Knuckle and he's helped us with some amazing videos along the way. Now that he's moved to Amsterdam, he'll be baking some goods with HT and presenting them here regularly. Thanks Tomek!
