Cherry-Almond Cake
The perfect cherry-almond cake.
It's cherry season here, and we've been eating cherries like drinking water. They are so sweet and juicy and firm that it's like eating candy that's good for you. I suspect that's the reason why my tongue has turned a purple color!
But you don't always get a perfect box of cherries and the last ones we bought were not as good for eating as they were soft. I like mine to be firm when eating them raw. So I decided they were perfect for baking. Would it be cherry pie or cherry cake? I decided on cake (pie is next) and used a recipe from Williams-Sonoma. The Cherry-Almond Cake was wonderful, and I'll definitely be making it again. We ate it as is without powdered sugar, whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream, all of which would have been good with it.
Williams-Sonoma's Cherry-Almond Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole blanched almonds
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tsp. for sprinkling
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 lb. fresh cherries, pitted
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions:
In a food processor, coarsely chop almonds. Transfer 1/4 cup almonds to a bowl and reserve. Add flour, baking powder and salt to food processor. Process until remaining almonds are finely ground. Transfer to a bowl.
In a food processor, cream butter with 3/4 cup granulated sugar. Add eggs one at a time, blending each one fully. Add almond and vanilla extracts.
Add half of flour mixture and pulse to blend. Add remaining flour mixture. Pulse until smooth. Scrape into prepared pan and place cherries on top in a single layer.
Mix reserved almonds with 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and sprinkle around edge of cake. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Unmold and let cool completely on a wire rack. Transfer to a cake plate. Dust edge with confectioners' sugar.
