Baking Night

I had a baking night week before last and was all set to write about it during the week when I was struck down with the lurgy (cold, cough etc) and only today started to feel a bit more human (thought I was on the mend yesterday but then went out this morning and had a relapse).
As you can see from my brief post earlier this week one of the baked goods I made was shortbread (guest blogged on My Kitchen Table) but I also made Cherry and Almond slices and a chocolate sponge for a Baked Alaska (more on the latter later).
The cherry slices are from the Mary Berry book I've been using in the last couple of weeks (the same one used for the shortbread) and they are baked in a tray and then sliced into squares.
Ingredients:
225g glace cherries
275g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
zest 2 lemons
75g ground almonds
5 large eggs
25g flaked almonds
The most time-consuming part of this recipe is preparing the cherries. Not sure why but they need to be quartered, rinsed and then dried. Never heard this done with glace cherries before but if Mary says to do it then who am I to question? Once these are ready put all the ingredients (except the flaked almonds) into a bowl and beat together until they are mixed thoroughly then fold in the cherries. Pour into your prepared tin (12x9inch tray, greased and lined with greaseproof paper) and scatter the flaked almonds on top. Cook in a preheated oven (180 fan) for 40 minutes. Mine was ready after 35 minutes, all raised and brown and spongy to touch. Then leave it to cool in the tray before slicing into squares and storing for eating later. This makes a lot of slices and we are still eating them (a bit stale at this stage but they have lasted for over a week).
I then made the sponge for the Baked Alaska, but I still haven't made the Baked Alaska! It was for my visitors last weekend but after a dinner of mini toad in the holes (cute and yum) no-one had any room left so the sponge has been eaten on its own over the week (even BYO at Starbucks!). There is still some left so I'm thinking about making a couple of mini Alaska's tonight, I will let you know the outcome.
That was just three things baked in one evening but it took most of the evening, time consuming but well worth it. I remember my mother doing her baking on a Saturday afternoon when I was growing up and it took most of the day but we always ended up with apple tarts, fairy cakes and some other cake to keep us going during the week.