Bakewell Cake!
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A two-layer bakewell cake with almond sponges, cherry jam, almond buttercream frosting and more!
Bakewell
If you have never experienced something ‘bakewell’ flavoured, then you are missing out. Bakewell anything is just so tasty, and I am completely in love with it. My Bakewell Blondies are one of my favourite recipes on my blog, and you all seem to adore them too.
I have some older bakewell recipes on my blog, such as my Bakewell Cupcakes, and my Bakewell Cheesecake, but it’s been a while since I posted something like this. The most similar thing, if you wanted something stuffed with fruit is my Berry Bakewell Cake!
Bakewell is typically almond, with cherry – or raspberry/strawberry etc depending on what you fancy. For this cake, I decided to make a two layer cake (Sorry three layer lovers) as it was for my friends birthday, and they didn’t want a massive cake.
Ground almonds
I used a standard Victoria sponge style recipe, but with the addition of ground almonds. I tried substituting some of the flour for ground almonds, completely substituting and so on – but just the addition worked far better in my opinion. So much almond goodness.
The cake mix looks different obviously because of the ground almonds, but it’s still lovely and thick and perfect. It bakes slightly more solid than a Victoria sponge, but you will forgive that because of the delicious texture that is created after the almonds.
Almond extract
Because of the almond flavour being there, but in my opinion, not quite strong enough – I used almond extract in the buttercream frosting. This is completely optional, but I just loved it. Marrying that with the cherry jam or converse in the middle, it creates the best flavour ever.
Jam
You can use any flavour of jam you want if you prefer like I’ve said – my usual alternative is raspberry, but that’s up to you. You could entirely leave out the jam if you just wanted an almond cake too! I love recipes that are adaptable, to whatever my readers prefer.
Three layer version
If for example you did want to make this into a three layer cake, I would use 350g butter/sugar/flour/almonds and 7 medium eggs. Bake this into three 8″/20cm tins for about 30-35 minutes! Then you can use 1.5x the jam and buttercream!
Decoration
I love to decorate my cakes ever so slightly as I just love the look of it, and it only seemed right to have some glacé cherries. You can, obviously, use real cherries – but I was trying to stick to the bakewell theme a bit with the glacé cherries.
Some toasted flaked almonds give a little texture and act like sprinkles, and a drizzle more of your jam or converse to finish off the cake. It’s easy, it’s simple, but it’s a delicious way to get a bakewell cake for all the bakewell fans in your life.
So! I hope you love this recipe as much as I do (this is becoming my most commonly used phrase, sorry…!) but honestly – I hope you do!! Any questions, let me know in the comments! x
Bakewell Cake!
Ingredients
Cake
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 250 g caster sugar
- 250 g self raising flour
- 250 g ground almonds
- 5 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
Filling
- 200 g jam (I used cherry)
Buttercream
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 300 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
Decoration
- 25 g toasted flaked almonds
- Glacé cherries
- 50-100 g jam (I used cherry)
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4 - grease and line two 8”/20cm cake tins with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add in the flour, ground almonds, vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs and beat again until combined.
- Split the mixture evenly between the two tins, and bake.
- Bake the cakes for about 30-35+ minutes.
- Let the cakes cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, and then let them cool fully on a wire rack.
Buttercream
- Beat the butter on it’s own for about 5 minutes to make it nice and smooth.
- Add in the icing sugar a half at a time, beating in fully both times.
- Add in the almond extract and beat again until smooth.
Decoration
- Spread half of the buttercream to the top of the first sponge, and add on the jam.
- Add on the second sponge, and spread the rest of the buttercream on top.
- Sprinkle over some flaked almonds, add on an extra drizzle of jam if you fancy, and some glacé cherries.
Notes
- You can leave the ground almonds out of the sponge mix you prefer. The baking time will decrease by a few minutes.
- You can use any flavour jam you like, such as cherry, raspberry or strawberry.
- This cake will last for 3+ days, at room temperature.
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi Jane. I’m so excited to make this cake as it looks delicious! Sorry for this really silly question but in terms of cake tins, am I best to use sandwich tins or springform tins? Or are either fine? Thanks, Molly.
Sandwich tins are usually quite shallow, so I’d suggest the springform ones!
Thanks for your reply – the springform tins worked well so thanks for your help. The cake went down a treat! This is the third recipe I’ve made of yours (two of which I’ve made twice) and they always turn out wonderfully and go down a storm. Thank you for sharing your lovely recipes!
Hi Jane! This looks so yummy, I’d love to make it into a 3 tier drip cake , what would I have to change the measurements to?xx
For the sponge you’d need to use another half so 1.5x, and probably double the buttercream!
Hi, can you tell me what I would need to do to bake this In a 10 inch cake tin please?
Thanks! X
You would need to add on another 2/3 of the recipe – the baking times will also change! x
Made this for the first time today – cooked at 160’C fan oven, needed 35 mins. It was delicious and a big hit with my hubby and son! Will definitely be making it again 🙂 thanks so much for this well-crafted recipe!
Notes for other bakers – I only used 100g of butter in the icing, which worked fine on a cake this size!
Hi Jane, I am making this for my mum tomorrow I just wondered what piping nozzle you used as I would love it to look like the picture as it looks really professional.
Many thanks
Hey, any round nozzle will work!xx
Made this cake for my husband’s birthday at his request, and the flavour is amazing (I love bakewell products!) but I found the sponges to be slightly dry, despite taking them out of the oven at 30mins so they definitely weren’t overbaked, and eating on the day of baking. Is there anything you can recommend or suggest to help me tweak my result for next time – maybe 5 large eggs instead, or a splash of milk? Thanks!
Hey, it could be that your oven was too hot rather than the timings, xx
I want to try this recipe but I think I’ll add an extra egg AND a splash of milk, to compensate for the extra dry ingredient (ground almonds).
I made this today and it was absolutely delicious! I topped the sponges with almond flavoured simple syrup to add to the flavour even more and it worked so well! Kept the sponges moist and yummy! I couldn’t get my jam to drizzle over the cake though, even after mixing it, any tips for that? Thanks! Xx
Maybe melt the jam slightly in the microwave? X
I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday recently and wow it went down a storm! Really easy to follow and trust me I’m no baker, usually open the packet and add eggs type but I thought I’d give it a go and it turned out fantastic. It’s inspired me to try my hand at something else 😊 x
Hi Jane – I love the look of this cake! I’ve been asked to make a Bakewell cake for my family for next weekend but here’s the rub…it has to be vegan. Do you have a recipe for a vegan version please?
Would appreciate your help. Thank you.
I made this and it went down an absolute storm!
Is it possible to make this gluten free by just substituting the flour?
How long should i bake for if using this recipe for cupcakes?
Most cupcakes take about 20-22 minutes! x
Made this for my sisters birthday cake. She loved it. She said it was like a Bakewell intensified! Even my husband enjoyed it and he doesn’t really like the traditional Bakewells. Brilliant recipe!
This recipie is amazing. It was very easy to make and tasted amazing. Had very good comments from everyone who ate it. Would recommend this recipe and I will be making it again.
Is this cake supposed to have an outside crunchy crust?
Just tried this cake today. It’s the first time I have ever baked a cake I’m embarrased to say as was never taught when was a child but now I have one of my own I want to start learning her how to bake at a young age. I felt a bit intimidated by it at first as the photos look so good and wasn’t sure if I could do it but the recipe was so easy to follow. Only had one 8 inch cake tin so had to make it twice and so will invest in another cake tin as it Is now extremely tall( not that I am complaining as it’s more cake!!!). We had so much fun learning how to bake together and will most definitely be picking a recipe every weekend From here to learn together . Thankyou so much for making this blog and for all the recipes. My 6 year old daughter has already picked out a load she want to try and has spent the whole day watching your videos
Hi Jane, how can I make this into muffins or cupcakes please? My nan loves cakes with ground almonds but the cake would be too big x
You could use half and it should work for 12 cupcakes!! x