How do you stop cherries falling to the bottom of your cherry madiera cake?

Answer 1

Toss cherries or other fruit in flour before adding them to the cake batter. This helps stabilise them, and prevents them from sinking to the bottom. Cut cherries in half, or even in quarters, before tossing them with flour. Cherries are heavy enough to sink in some batters, even with the flour coating - unless they are cut into smaller pieces.

Choose a cake with a stiff batter, rather than one with a thin batter. A stiff batter offers more resistance to the cherries, and will not allow them to sink as readily. Rinse halved maraschino or glace cherries under cold running water before flouring them. Flour will adhere better after they are rinsed. Drain any extra water before tossing them in the flour.

Place the cherries on top of the cake before it goes into the oven. The ones that sink will not make it all the way to the bottom, and the handful that stay at the top will lend an attractive appearance to the cake.