Cherries In Loaf Cake

Our answer

Nigella's Cherry Almond Loaf Cake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a vanilla madeira style (pound) cake studded with glace (candied) cherries. These cherries are cooked in a thick sugar syrup to preserve them, so that they are sweet and have a firm texture and are slightly sticky to the touch. Maraschino cherries are preserved in a jar of sugar syrup, but are much softer and usually a little less sweet than glace cherries. They also have quite a pronounced almond flavour.

You probably can use maraschino cherries (use the same quantity but make sure it is the drained weight) as an alternative but bear in mind that the colour from maraschino cherries could bleed slightly into the cake as it bakes. This would give a slightly "blotchy" appearance. So we would prefer to use glace cherries. If you have to use maraschino cherries then drain but don't rinse them, pat them dry thoroughly with paper towels then halve them and toss them in some flour, as directed in the recipe.