Vanilla Cherry Cake

breakfast, cake, dessert

StandardSeptember 1, 2013by Julie17 Comments

It’s the last weekend of cherries at the Cherry Pit at the CFM, and since we’re trying to squeeze the very most out of this last summer long weekend I made sure there was a bowlful on the table. I’m totally digging cherries this year – I’ve been halving them to scatter over pancake batter as it cooks and to stir into muffins instead of more predictable muffinberries. Driving through the Okanagan – cherry central – roadside stands provided a regular stash of totally local non-chip car snacks. The last remnants of summer are flip-flop tan lines and cherry-stained fingers.

Traditionally, I set aside the less than perfect or squishier cherries for baking with or tossing into smoothies or jam. Sometimes I’m on the ball and toss them in a bag in the freezer – other times I set them aside in a bowl on the counter to encourage the fruit flies. One day, I was motivated to bake a cake – using a recipe of Anne Murray‘s. Hers is more of a Christmassy version, made with copious amounts of candied cherries, but really the buttery pound cake acts as a perfect vehicle for fresh cherries, which I find aren’t used often enough in baking. Also? Vanilla and cherries get on so well together. And it’s the perfect sort of cake to transport to a backyard barbecue or party for which you’ve been asked to bring a little something to eat.

But really, this cake is a nice blank canvas – it could take on ripe peaches or apricots, blueberries, or chopped apples tossed in cinnamon-sugar as the market offerings change. A good pound cake is a nice thing to have tucked away in your repertoire – and it doesn’t have to be a Bundt; the batter would make two loaves instead if you’d rather use two 4×8-inch loaf pans instead, in which case they’d likely take about 50-60 minutes to bake. The drizzle is just icing sugar, thinned with cream and a drop more of vanilla.

AuthorJulie

Yields1 Serving

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup canola or other vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

grated zest of a lemon (optional)

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

3 cups pitted, halved cherries

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each, then beat in the extracts and lemon zest.

Combine 3 1/2 cups of the flour with the baking powder and salt; add to the butter mixture in thirds, alternately with the milk. Toss the cherries with the remaining 1/4 cup flour and stir into the batter.

Pour into a well-greased 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until golden and the top is springy to the touch. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Categorybreakfast, cake, dessert

Ingredients