Cherry and Almond Cake

This cake is just divine. Its an ideal present cake for Easter or Christmas. It looks fantastic. I got the recipe from the Good Food Magazine.

200g butter, at room temperature
200g caster sugar
4 eggs beaten
200g self-raising flour
200g glacé cherries, chopped
100g ground almonds
3 drops almond extract
250g marzipan
50g blanched almonds, halved lengthways
1 tsp icing sugar, for dusting
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas 3. Grease a deep 20cm round cake tin and line the base and sides with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Pour in the eggs a little at a time and beat well after each addition. Mix in the flour one third at a time.
3. Fold in the cherries, ground almonds and almond extract until evenly mixed. Spoon half the mixture into the tin.
4. Roll out the marzipan to a 19cm circle. Lay this on top of the cake mixture in the tin, then cover with the rest of the mixture. Level with the back of a spoon and scatter the almonds on top.
5. Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, covering with foil after 1 hour if it shows signs of burning. The cake is done when it shrinks away from the side of the tin and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.