What do you do when life hands you cherries, I mean we know what to do when it hands us lemons, but no one ever mentioned cherries….sigh
You see the problem all started because Lisa loves cherries, but they seem to be out a little late this year, or the peaches are in a little early, I’m not sure which of those statements are actually true, but the end result was that I had two pounds of cherries that needed to be used. So after thinking long and hard I’ve come up with the answer to the (new) age old question of what to do when life hands you cherries……..you bake!
I looked through my cookbooks for inspiration, but didn’t really see anything that spoke to me. There were all types of cherry cakes, chocolate, sponge, layer, coffee, the list went on and on…but none from a source that I really trusted. We all know that some times the cookbook recipes need to be tweaked, and even then the results aren’t always what we hoped for. I do have my few go to baking books, that I swear by, but none of those had what I was looking for. So when I need to find a sure bet in baking, I turn to the one source I know I can always count on, The Joy of Baking.
I knew this was the perfect recipe to showcase those glorious little globes, the ground almonds would add texture and flavor to the cake, which would make those sweet cherries stand out even more! The Cherry Almond Cake was actually pretty simple to make , the most time consuming task was pitting the cherries, thank goodness I invested in that Oxo Cherry Pitter last year, it made quick work of the cherries! I even lined the bottom of my springform pan with parchment this time, which made all the difference in just sliding the cake out of the pan. Little things make such a difference.
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter – melted
- 1 pound (465 grams) fresh sweet cherries
- 1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (55 grams) ground almonds
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon(5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (5 gm) pure vanilla powder (optional)
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) whole milk
- confectioners sugar for dusting
- preheat oven to 400 degrees (200 C)
- butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan , and line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper
- melt butter and set aside to cool
- rinse, and pit cherries, then split in half and allow the excess juice to drain off.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, salt, and baking powder,set aside
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes at high speed until thick and pale yellow
- add in the vanilla extract and vanilla powder, mix well
- Pour the butter and milk down the side of the mixing bowl, and using a rubber spatula or whisk fold in the melted butter and milk into the egg mixture gently to avoid deflating the eggs.
- Add the flour in 3 steps, folding it into the mixture each time
- add cherries to the mix and gently fold them in (if you add too much of the juice the cake will change color)
- Pour the batter into your prepared springform pan and even out the batter using an offset spatula.
- Place on center rack of oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- allow to cool on cooling rack for 15 minutes then remove sides of springform pan
- let completely cool before removing bottom of pan and parchment paper.
- Dust with confectioners sugar and serve
- or serve with whipped cream and additional sliced cherries
The ground almonds aren’t a deal breaker, if you’re allergic or just not into nuts, you can leave them out, just substitute another half cup of regular flour instead. The almonds did improve the texture and flavor of the cake, so I’m glad I left them in. You can serve the cake simply with just confectioners sugar, or serve with homemade whipped cream and cherries. But anyway you serve it your family and friends will love it!
Thanks for stopping by today, check out my next post and you’ll see what I did with the rest of the cherries!
This is beautiful! We are steeped in delicious cherries here and I’m loving them in everything. These flavor combinations sound perfect Dennis and quintessential of summer. Send me a slice (maybe by Carrier pigeon?)?
Beautiful cake, Chef! When cherries are ripe, I always buy too many and I love cherries with almonds. Delicious!
This looks amazing! I’m a big fan of the cherry almond combination…although, whenever I buy cherries I always end up eating the whole bag before I get a chance to bake with them!
I love this recipe great for my next cookout! Wow that sounded like a commercial lol but it’s something different than the norm so thanks for sharing! Lol going to check out your guest post !
Yumm!!! This dessert looks delicious with cherries:)
Oh, I love cherries. I haven’t worked with sweet cherries too much. When I was growing up, there was a farm close by that used to sell sour cherries. The beauty was that the farm had a large cherry pitter, so we could by pounds and pounds already pitted.
But, I think, after looking this cake over, I might have to give sweet cherries a try.
I will save this for the cherry season that hasn’t come here yet.. I can already taste it..
Thank you for this! I bought 2 pounds of cherries, and while I have made turnovers and ice cream, I only used a pound. Now I know what to do with the rest of them!
Sure looks delicious. I posted about your Chicken Marselena with Pepperoni today – we loved it.
You are so lucky…2 pounds of fresh cherries ! Over here fresh cherries costs a bomb
Your cherry almond cake looks delicious..I don’t mind having two slices 
)
Have a nice day Chef !
Life handed me cherries too, 6 lbs of them! I’ll be making this cake, for sure! Looks super yum!
Oh yum! I wish I could bake with cherries most often. When I do buy them, the kids attack and inhale them before I can do anything! I love the addition of almonds in this cake.
A perfect way to take advantage of the summer’s bounty!
Congratulations on making the foodbuzz Top 9!
Sounds scrumptious! Might have to make this very soon, thanks for sharing!
Gorgeous Summer cake, Chef! I love the styling of your photos!
This cake is beautiful, I made one in last year. I am going to make this also.
Save me a slice of this delish cherry almond cake, please. And that dollop of cream? Make mine double dollops, pls. Thanks for sharing, Chef Dennis! Happy 4th!
This looks absolutely amazing! Would love to try this but the cherries are so scares here and so expensive! I shall have to substitute with more available fruits!:)
You always come out with the greatest recipes. Thanks for sharing them.
All these cherry posts are making me drool!
Looks beautifully delicious! Love Cherry season.
This cake looks amazing! I love the cherry and almond combo. Yum!
Oh my, I cannot wait for cherries to be in season. (Mid July). This recipe is awesome and needs to be duplicated in my home. YUM!
They are lovely! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so excited to try this cake!!! I’ll be baking it this week…perhaps, I can soak the cherries in kirsch for a boozy version? Bookmarking this right now.
Cherry Almond anything is right up my alley, this recipes sounds delicious and is one I will be making very, very soon!