Easy Cherry Bakewell Cake Recipe

Preheat the oven to 175ºC. Grease and line 2 x 7 inch cake tins with greaseproof paper or baking paper.
Using a stand mixer, cream together the Stork and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
Crack the eggs in a separate jug and add to the cake mix. Add the almond extract.
Add the ground almonds and mix well.
Add the self raising flour and mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Divide the mixture into the 2 tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden on top. You'll know the cakes are done when you insert a skewer into the centre of the cake and it comes out clean.
Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack until completely cooled before you start to add the buttercream and brush with the almond liqueur syrup if you want - it's totally optional!
To make the almond liqueur syrup, add the water, sugar and almond liqueur to a small pan. Dissolve the sugar over a low heat and the syrup is ready when you can't see or feel (with a spoon) any sugar crystals.

If using the syrup on the cakes, brush the hot syrup to the cooled cakes.

In a stand mixer, add the butter and icing sugar. Start on a low speed and gently mix until well combined.
Add the vanilla extract and mix for a couple of minutes on medium-high speed to get nice, light buttercream.

Put one of the cooled cakes on a cake board or plate the same size as the cake. Don't worry if you don't have a 7" cake board - you can use anything you have to hand.
Spread a thin layer of cherry jam onto the cake, then add the vanilla buttercream. I like to pipe the buttercream on but if you don't have a piping bag, you can use a palette knife to spread a layer of buttercream.
Stack the cakes, making sure they're stacked neatly above each other.
You can either cover in a thin layer of buttercream to get a semi-naked finish, use a thicker buttercream coating or pipe some buttercream dots to the top of the cake and top with glace cherries.