Cheery cherries

Welcome your holiday guests with this festive cake using seasonal produce

I DEVELOPED this cake as a way to make use of some of the festive season produce.

Cherries are always in our fridge at Christmas time and this cake is a perfect way to use them.

This cake is a great solution for those guests who just pop in to say hi during the holidays.

It’s great with a cup of tea or coffee and suitable for the festive season.

So simple to make, with minimal preparation or cooking time, it is definitely something that anyone can whip up at the last minute and puts good seasonal produce to use.

This recipe is not in my book Blending the Cultures, but this recipe and many more can be found on my site: thekitchenbench.com.au.

Readers can also purchase my book from this site. Cherry and Pistachio Nut Tea Cake (serves 12) INGREDIENTS: • 175g butter, softened • 175g caster sugar • 175g self-raising flour, sifted • 3 eggs • 75g pistachio nuts, crushed • 1 tsp vanilla essence • 275g cherries, pitted and sliced in half • caster sugar for dusting

METHOD: Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a 22cm round cake tin. Using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, beat the sugar and butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer to medium speed and add the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture one at a time. Once the eggs are fully mixed through add the vanilla and mix for a further 30 seconds. Turn off your mixer and using a wooden spoon add the flour to the batter and combine well ensuring there are no lumps. Toss the cherries and pistachio nuts into the batter and combine well. You will find that this is a very thick batter especially once you add the cherries and nuts. Transfer the cake batter to the baking tin and bake in oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and sprinkle with caster sugar for decoration. Allow to cool in the baking tin.