Cherry Almond Cake
Last week we had our friends over for dinner. Josh made Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin and I was in charge of dessert. I love being in charge, especially when dessert is involved:) I was tempted to bake cookies because you can never go wrong with cookies, but I decided to mix things up. We bought a big bag of cherries from the market so I made a Cherry Almond Cake.
I love fresh cherries, minus the pits. You would think with all of the cooking and baking we do we would own a cherry pitter. Nope! I think it is the one gadget we don’t have. So my hands got nice and red while making this cake. Oh well, it was worth it, but buying a cherry pitter is on my to do list:)
The buttermilk cake is tender with juicy cherries and an almond streusel topping. I also added an almond glaze and toasted almonds to finish off the cake. The cake is pretty to serve and delicious to eat. I was very pleased with my cake and so were our guests.
This Cherry Almond Cake makes a great dessert, but I can also see myself serving and eating it for breakfast or brunch. Cake in the morning is always a good idea:) Go find some fresh cherries…and a cherry pitter and make this Cherry Almond Cake.
Cherry Almond Cake
Yield: Serves 8-10
Cook Time: 50-55 minutes
A tender buttermilk cake with fresh cherries, an almond streusel topping and sweet almond glaze.
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted and halvedTo make the Almond Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup almond paste, crumbled
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Pinch of saltTo make the Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds (optional)Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan or pie plate. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg, buttermilk, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix until combined.
4. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Arrange cherries on top of batter.
5. To make the almond streusel topping-in a small bowl combine flour, brown sugar, almond paste, butter, and salt. Mix together with your fingers until crumbly. Top the cake with streusel topping.
6. Bake cake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 50-55 minutes. Let cool in pan. T
7. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, almond extract, and just enough of the milk to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cake and garnish with toasted almond slices, if using.
8. Cut the cake and serve.
Note-the cake will keep up to 2 days, stored in an air-tight container on the counter.
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SaveIf you like this Cherry Almond Cake, you might also like:
- Cherry Cake Pudding from The Pioneer Woman
- Cherry-Vanilla Layer Cake from Sprinkles Bakes
- Almond and Cherry Upside Down Cake from Roost
- Chocolate Cherry Cake from Cookie and Kate
Welcome to Two Peas and Their Pod. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. Join us in our culinary adventures-our kitchen is always open! 
Cherries + almond, what a perfect simple combination Maria. I’d love to make this cake for my parents. They both lived on farms when they were younger and when I was young, we all went cherry picking together.
I haven’t baked with cherries yet (just eating them plain) bc we don’t have a cherry pitter either…but this looks like it’s worth red hands!
This looks really wonderful! As soon as I can get my hands on some cherries and a cherry pitter, I’m going to give it a go! Cake for breakfast is definitely awesome and should happen more regularly!
This looks lovely! Any idea what would be a good substitute for the almond paste? Haven’t seen it around here in Greece. Maybe marzipan? Or could I make my own?
Thank you!
This looks delicious! I recently discovered an easy way to pit cherries without a pitter–you use a hard plastic drinking straw and just jam it straight through the cherry. It’s a little messy and harder than a real cherry pitter, but works quite well!
This is a really pretty cake! My hubby loves cherries so he’d love this for sure
I love cherries! Though they’re so good fresh that I often forget to bake or cook them into things
I have to be honest, I SO wish I saw this recipe a couple of weeks ago when my refrigerator was over flowing with fresh cherries! This recipe looks delicious and the almond streussel topping sounds divine! Looks like I may have to pick up another batch of cherries to bake your cake!
Yes, you can make your own cherry pitter! Here’s a handy link for you! http://barefeetinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2012/06/homemade-cherry-pitter.html?m=1
That was weird, my phone decided it was going to post my comment before I was done. Silly phone! I was going to say I also wish I had this recipe this weekend!
Brilliant use of cherries.
Maria, I don’t have cherry pitter either! I think it’s the one kitchen gadget I don’t own!
Yummy! The cherries have been awesome this year. I LOVE everything about this cake. It is so beautiful too!
perfect for any day! looks really moist, too
Love the cake! I’m already on my second slice. And it’s a hit with the family too.
Two Peas replied: — July 9th, 2012 @ 8:31 pm
So glad you liked the cake!
This looks so amazing!!
oh yum, this looks so delicious!
ooo- love the look of this cake and love cherries and almonds together – I too don’t own a cherry pitter but a pairing knife will do!
this is such a gorgeous cake, Maria! Can a pull a seat up and have you cut me a large slice?
swooning a little over here, Maria! this looks like perfection…and your pictures are gorgeous! no cherry pitter here, either…I think it’s time.
I love cherries!
Maria, this cake is lovely. I do not own a cherry pitter, either, but I think I will invest in one before I try this recipe. Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of days!
xo
I seriously can’t get enough of cherries lately and there’s no better way to enjoy them than in cake-for-breakfast form! Gorgeous!
Seriously beautiful! But yes, you need a pitter for sure! I can see that being a mess
I love being in charge of dessert too
And any dessert that involves cherries is high on my list! Yum!
E an
E and I were putting cherries tonight and were trying to figure out what to do with all of them. I think I found the recipe!
What a great dessert and perfect use of fresh cherries! If I don’t have cherries, I may use another berry. Yum!
Looks beautiful! I recently became the owner of a cherry pitter and the difference is totally night and day..you must get one! ;0)
Cheers..
this is on my list of things to make for when my sister visits!!! She loves almonds and cherries.
Looks so pretty and perfect, I just love glaze on top too!
We had 4 lbs of fresh cherries and no pitter….my husband took a pair of needle nosed pliers, bent the outer prongs all the way down and then took the middle two prongs and bent them just enough to hook the pit…..PERFECTION…I won’t be spending $25 for a pitter. I had tried the paper clip trick, and that was difficult. The fork trick worked like a charm!
I want some for BF! Looks delish, Maria!
Looks amazing, my idea of a perfect desert!
I can’t wait to make this cake. Love the idea of cherries and almonds. (too bad for Josh, I thought I saw on a post that he can’t have nuts.)
I have 2 kinds of cherry pitters. One is a hand held one – sort of like sissors which pits one cherry for small recipe amounts. I have a Leifheit cherry stoner (that’s what they call it) from Chefs which I get out when I need a large amount of cherries pitted for fruit salad or recipe. It works great and is probably one of the best tools I have purchased.
Have a great day.
that looks delicious! love the combination of cherry and almond!
Yum. This looks delicious. I love this time of year when fresh cherries are a plenty!
Can I have this cake before dinner? It looks fabulous! Thank you for the link love, Maria, hope you’re doing well!
Cake in the morning is a fantastic idea! It has nuts and fruit in it after all:-)
wow! looks fantastic.