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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I loved making this cake – it was super easy, very quick, and the result was excellent! I only had large eggs, so used one less because you’re also in the UK as far as I can tell (apparently eggs in other countries are really different size-wise so that swap might not work everywhere?). The batter was a lot thicker than I was expecting and I wondered if that was too little egg, but they rose OK and cooled with level tops and had a fantastic taste and texture. I used morello cherry conserve for the tartness to balance the sweetness of the cake, and whipped double cream with vanilla extract and used that to fill and decorate the cake, and finished by topping it off with maraschino cherries. One thing I’d love, is to see more process photos instead of so many photos of the finished cake, so I could’ve checked my batter consistency against yours. Mine cooked to perfection in 30 minutes; I did use an oven thermometer to make sure it was 160C fan because my oven runs a bit hot and I’d read the other comments and didn’t want to give my son a dry birthday cake. I’d make this again for sure!
Hi Jane , is it best to freeze the sponges then decorate on the day or is it ok to freeze the whole cake already decorated ? Thanks
Hiya! You can do either – I do often decorate from frozen as I find it easier though! Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, you’ve put all my favourite flavours in a cake!
Could I use Swiss meringue buttercream in this cake? Would i just add the essence to the buttercream? As its not as sweet do you think it would be OK?
Hiya! Yes, that should be fine! Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, I’m going to make this cake for my nans birthday in a couple of days. I was just wondering what size tins you suggest to use, whenever I make a cake the sponges are never tall enough ! Thanks
Hiya! As per the recipe, I use 8″ (20cm) tins! Hope this helps! x
I have been dying to make this one for a while now, but for some reason the edges fell apart for me?
I followed the recipe to the dot…really confused – never happened to me before! I think the cake was so soft that the edges just fell apart (maybe still too warm?!) Planning to sit it back together with some buttercream 😁 as long as it tastes good then who cares!
making this foe a birthday cake tomorrow and would like to know how tall this end up so i know if it will fit in the cake box i have, thanks liz
Hiya! This cake should fit into a standard cake box. How did it go in the end? x
Hello, Would you be able to provide the measurements and bake time if you were to make this a 10 inch cake please?
Thanks!
Hi Jane,
How can I make this cake eggless?
Do I use the vegan victoria sponge recipe and add the same amount of ground almonds as the self raising flour?
So 450g self raising flour and 450g of ground almonds?
I personally have not tried this, but its definitely worth a go! Let me know the outcome! x
Hello I am looking to do this cake for my m but would love to do a 4” and 3 layers what would you say the measurements of ingredients would be please x
Jane, do you think I can replace the ground almonds with pistachios to make it into a pistachio sponge? Thank you ^_^
Hiya! I personally have not tried this, but its definitely worth a go! Let me know! x
Hi Jane can this be baked in a loaf tin?
Hiya! I have not personally tried this – however its worth a go! Keep an eye on the baking time and be sure to only fill your tin 2/3 for the best bake! Hope this helps, let me know how it goes! x
Hi Jane,
If I wanted to make this into a chocolate Bakewell cake do I just add 70g cocoa or do I need to sub out any flour/add eggs? Thanks so much, I love so many of your recipes!!
Hiya! Sub out your flour for about 50g cocoa powder. Hope this helps, enjoy! x
Another great recipe Jane! I’ve made one of your cakes for everyone’s birthday these last couple of years and I’ve just finished this one for my 11yo birthday, he’s very happy! I found the sponge mix not as wet as normal cake mix but put that down to the ground almonds 🙂 can’t wait to have a slice with the birthday boy when he gets home from school!
I made this cake for my husbands birthday as we both love anything almond flavour and it was delicious, but I am having a problem with my oven, I have invested in a thermometer and always find I need to put it up by one gas mark. I put the Cokes in as quickly as possible but found the temperature had then dropped by over 10 degrees, I turned it up after a while and it eventually got back up to 180. Could it be because I’d used baking bands which I’ve never used before? It is an old oven and I will be getting a new one next year but and frustrated as the temperature seems to fluctuate so much with all my bakes. p.s. have recently discovered your blog and book and I am totally addicted, love it! x
Hi Jane!
Was wondering if I wanted to use less ground almonds would I need to compensate with more flour? Or would I need to amend the recipe at all?
Thanks so much
Absolutely amazing cake. Delicious will definitely make it again.