When life hands you cherries, what can you do but bake! Your family and friends are going to love my cherry almond cake. This recipe is sure to be a family favorite.
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
Well, I made a cherry almond cake. How’s that sound?
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 sometimes 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.
You might also like my recipe for Orange Yogurt Cake.
If you’ve tried my Cherry Almond Cake recipe or any other recipe on askchefdennis.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram @chefdenniseats and @chefdennistravels, Twitter and Facebook
When life hands you cherries, what can you do but bake! Your family and friends are going to love my cherry almond cake. This recipe is sure to be a family favorite.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 pound sweet cherries fresh
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almonds finely ground
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar granulated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder optional
- 1/3 cup 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
John says
May 26, 2013 at 1:47 pmI have made this cake three times now and it is a big hit every time. I have used thawed frozen cherries and it works great. I just pour off the extra juice before adding the cherries and drink it.
Chef Dennis says
May 26, 2013 at 1:51 pmThanks for letting me know John, and frozen cherries are a great alternative when fresh aren’t in season!
John says
June 8, 2013 at 3:25 pmSo far this is my wifes favorite cake. I have laso tried different fruits such as diced pineapple and even chopped strawberries (one pound).
The strawberry version tool a bit longer to cook, but tasted really good. It was gone in two days!
I like your basic cake formula, using melted butter. It makes things much easier.
Thanks for sharing!
John
Britney says
July 16, 2012 at 12:03 pmCherry Almond anything is right up my alley, this recipes sounds delicious and is one I will be making very, very soon!
Jen L | Tartine and Apron Strings says
July 14, 2012 at 7:54 pmI’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.
Shu Juan says
July 11, 2012 at 11:01 amThey are lovely! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
ellenbcookery says
July 5, 2012 at 8:23 amOh 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!
Happy When Not Hungry says
July 4, 2012 at 8:58 pmThis cake looks amazing! I love the cherry and almond combo. Yum!
Elyse @The Cultural Dish says
July 4, 2012 at 10:01 amAll these cherry posts are making me drool!
Alessandra says
July 4, 2012 at 10:07 amLooks beautifully delicious! Love Cherry season.
Pooja says
July 4, 2012 at 8:18 amYou always come out with the greatest recipes. Thanks for sharing them.
Jeannie says
July 3, 2012 at 7:43 pmThis 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!:)
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen says
July 3, 2012 at 4:58 pmSave 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!
Swathi says
July 3, 2012 at 4:17 pmThis cake is beautiful, I made one in last year. I am going to make this also.
Anna says
July 3, 2012 at 11:18 amGorgeous Summer cake, Chef! I love the styling of your photos!
Sarah @ Miss CandiQuik says
July 3, 2012 at 8:08 amSounds scrumptious! Might have to make this very soon, thanks for sharing!
DB-The Foodie Stuntman says
July 2, 2012 at 11:59 pmCongratulations on making the foodbuzz Top 9!
Jen @ Savory Simple says
July 2, 2012 at 2:37 pmA perfect way to take advantage of the summer’s bounty!
Laura @ Family Spice says
July 2, 2012 at 1:31 pmOh 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.
Julia says
July 2, 2012 at 7:41 amLife handed me cherries too, 6 lbs of them! I’ll be making this cake, for sure! Looks super yum!
Elin says
July 2, 2012 at 7:24 amYou 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 !
Larry says
July 2, 2012 at 5:22 amSure looks delicious. I posted about your Chicken Marselena with Pepperoni today – we loved it.
Medeja says
July 2, 2012 at 3:37 amI will save this for the cherry season that hasn’t come here yet.. I can already taste it.. 😀
Heather @ Bake, Run, Live says
July 2, 2012 at 3:59 amThank 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!
IdaBaker says
July 2, 2012 at 2:51 amOh, 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.
Lea@ Lea's Cooking says
July 2, 2012 at 1:03 amYumm!!! This dessert looks delicious with cherries:)
Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen says
July 2, 2012 at 12:24 amThis 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!
Comeca says
July 2, 2012 at 4:31 pmI 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 !
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
July 1, 2012 at 11:04 pmBeautiful cake, Chef! When cherries are ripe, I always buy too many and I love cherries with almonds. Delicious!
Toni @ Boulder Locavore says
July 1, 2012 at 11:01 pmThis 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?)?