I became very excited when cherries started appearing at our local markets a few weeks ago. It’s exciting because, well, they’re cherries! Also, the arrival of stone fruits mean that summer has peaked. (Come on, fall!) Anyway, I recently spotted some beautiful ones and snatched them up to bake as many things as I could imagine while I can.
In late spring, a very dear friend of mine who had been busy using up a huge batch of strawberries sent me this recipe. I held onto it, thinking I would make it this summer. But, when I was debating how best to enjoy my recent cherries acquisition (and my new cherry pitter!), I thought of this recipe and decided to adapt it to make the most of those fresh cherries.
My first thought was to ply this cake with serious quantities of vanilla. Cherries and vanilla are just lovely together, aren’t they? For a little more interest, I decided to add a sweet almond topping as well.
The result is a beautifully moist, flavorful cake that is one of my favorite new recipes of the summer. Just remember that cherry season won’t last long. Make it while you can!
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 10-12 ounces cherries, pitted and diced
- 1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°. Generously grease a 10-12 cup Bundt pan.
Whisk together 2 & 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
Gradually add flour mixture, alternating with yogurt. Mix just until blended.
Toss cherries with remaining 1/4 cup flour. Stir cherries gently into batter.
In a small bowl, stir together topping ingredients. Scatter mixture evenly into bottom of prepared pan.
Pour cake batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake 60 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan for 15-20 minutes. Then, transfer cake to wire rack to cool completely.
Mix together glaze ingredients, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over top of cooled cake.
Notes
Recipe adapted from A Spicy Perspective.
July 23rd, 2012 at 10:24 am
I can’t begin to tell you how many of your recipes I’ve pinned. Probably about 97% of them. I had to cut it off somewhere
This cake looks and sounds absolutely divine, it’s making my mouthwater!
July 23rd, 2012 at 10:35 am
This looks lovely! I just made yoghurt cake too:
http://saltedspoon.blogspot.com/2012/07/pina-colada-upside-down-yoghurt-cake.html
I love the idea of the cherry vanilla! Sounds like it’s time to make another one already!
July 23rd, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Cherry and almond are one of my favourite flavour combinations. Your bunt cake looks terrific!
July 23rd, 2012 at 2:32 pm
What a lovely and summery cake! I love the combination of cherries and almonds. I must ask, how do you get your bundt cakes to come out of the pan so beautifully?! I always seem to run into problems with bundt pans…
July 23rd, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Exactly! Cherries = cool weather will be here soon! The cake looks moist and delicious!
July 23rd, 2012 at 3:04 pm
This looks delicious – I’ve only ever tried yoghurt cake once but loved it. So light and fluffy. What a perfect recipe to use up the mass of cherries we have at home, pity that a lot of them are spoiling though
>> livefoodlove.blogspot.co.uk <<
July 23rd, 2012 at 7:34 pm
I just made these as cupcakes and they are AMAZING. Baked them for about 30 minutes – super moist, super sweet (but not too sweet – the almond and plain yogurt cut that). I used whipping cream instead of milk in the glaze so it could be a little thicker / go on sooner. My boyfriend just said I was a good baker. This recipe officially made my night.
July 24th, 2012 at 5:54 am
Pairing vanilla with cherries is an irresistible combination! Such a marvelous summer cake!
July 24th, 2012 at 8:43 am
I just love these kind of cakes and the flavours of this one are perfect… this is cake heaven for me!
July 24th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Amanda, my only trick is very generous greasing of the pan. I like to use a cooking spray with flour, like Baker’s Joy.
July 25th, 2012 at 8:42 am
Looks tasty! Can you make this in a different shape of pan? I’ve got 9×13 or loaf pans, but no bundt pan.
July 25th, 2012 at 9:11 am
Anne, this would likely work in 2 loaf pans with a similar baking time. You could also use a 9″x 13″ pan, but I think it will bake more quickly. I’d evaluate after about 40-45 minutes of baking. Also, I’d put the almond mixture on top of the cake before baking it in a 9″x 13″. If it starts getting too brown, you can cover the cake loosely with foil. Let me know how it works!
July 26th, 2012 at 8:12 am
I made this last night….fantastic! I have never baked with cherries before. My new favorite fruit to bake with! Even froze some of the extra cherries for this morning’s protein shake…yum! Only things I changed: used white whole wheat flour (all I had on hand) and increased baking soda to 1 tsp. I baked it at 350 degrees for 1 hr 10 mins. I sifted powdered sugar over the top instead of the glaze. The recipe called for slivered almonds but the picture looks like sliced almonds so I used sliced
Thanks for a great recipe. I will definitely make this one again!
July 27th, 2012 at 5:10 am
Just wanted to add to the nice comments…..this is a fantastic cake Jennifer! Thanks so much for sharing it with us; I plan on making another one tonight. Then I must try that Lemon Poke cake.
Have a great weekend!
July 30th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Looks wonderful! I don’t have a kitchen scale. Could you tell me about how many cups of cherries to use in the recipe? Thank you! I’m about to make your pecan chocolate chip cookie bites!
July 30th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Michelle, if you’re buying your cherries by the pound, then you can likely guess 10-12 ounces. I would guess you’ll need about 2 cups (pre-chopped!) for this cake.
July 30th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Thank you – very helpful! I had just bought some cherries at the store and then saw the recipe so I didn’t know the weight. I appreciate the help for both current and future making of the cake,
August 1st, 2012 at 8:46 am
Not a big cook but trying to get into it more. Made this last night for my family then it brought it into work this morning. It was a rave and my coworkers said I have permission to bring food anytime I want. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
August 7th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Just wanted to let you know that I did try this in a 9×13 pan and it worked just fine! I checked it starting at 40 mins, but it ended up going the full 60.
August 8th, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for the update, Anne! That’s good to know!
February 15th, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Hello Jennifer ….do you think you could use frozen unsweetened cherries in this recipe?
Thanks.
February 15th, 2013 at 5:23 pm
Hi, Teresa! I’ve never tried this with frozen cherries, but I think they’ll work just fine.