Last week I was walking my dog and noticed that my neighbor had a glorious sour cherry tree and it was chock full of red fruit! Now this isn’t a neighbor that I know, we just wave at each other and know that we live on the same block, but that’s the extent of it. Several days later I was walking my dog again and this time my neighbor was out in his yard. We waved and I said “Is that a cherry tree?” “Yes,” he answered. “Oh, I’m so envious! Must be great having fresh cherries!”
[UPDATE] Just inserting an update here, it’s a year later and I’ve picked the tree clean again. Only this year I learned how to can some homemade cherry pie filling! Hope you’ll check it out. :) [END UPDATE]
At that point he informed me that I was welcome to pick as many cherries as my little heart desired because he and his wife don’t use them and they would just go to waste otherwise. GO TO WASTE?? Not with me living down the road! So I took him up on his offer and walked down and picked about 4 pounds. There are still tons on the tree, and I plan to go back and get more soon.
Meanwhile, I didn’t know these were sour cherries until I took a bite of one. Wow! Now those are tart. So immediately I began to worry about what I was going to do with these. Can you tell I’ve never made anything from or baked with sour cherries? Turns out, once baked, these little beauties lose a lot of their tartness and they mesh beautifully with other ingredients.
Now to be fair, I must give credit where credit is due. While searching for recipes using sour cherries, I came across this old post on Chowhound. The original recipe they refer to was called Laurie’s Pear Tart, where a small cake is made in an 8″ springform pan, a lot of the moisture coming from the ripe pears. I’m not sure why it was called a tart, it’s not a tart. It’s a cake. I read in some of the posts that people had successfully used sour cherries, pretty much keeping the recipe the same with the addition of some almond extract and a little bit more sugar.
And so now I give you this amazingly wonderful cake, which really requires no icing or glaze, bursting with moisture and flavor. I’ve renamed it and adjusted ingredients to fit my needs. The edges of the cake have a slight chewy yet crunchy texture and the almond flavor really compliments the cherries. Fabulous! This is great for a nice dessert or even with coffee in the morning. I loved this.
Oh two things:
1) You’ll notice in the recipe it says the poke some of the cherries into the cake and leave some on top. I didn’t do that, I poked them all down into the cake, that’s why most of my cherries are at the bottom of the cake. I will be making this again and will try it as my instructions state below as I saw a lovely picture of a cherry cake someone made with cherries poking through the top.
2) Here’s a funny tidbit for you. I forgot to pit my cherries! LOL So I took the first bite of cake and had to spit out a cherry pit. It was like eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds! hahaha
adapted from Laurie’s Pear Tart
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
2 cups of pitted sour cherries, rinsed but don’t pat dry
Spray an 8″ springform pan with non-stick cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 F. Place prepared pan on a baking sheet and set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture until completely combined. Spread batter into prepared pan. Add cherries to the top of the batter. Leave some of the cherries on top and press some down into the batter. The ones you leave on top will be covered partially by the batter as it bakes. This makes for a pretty appearance.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Lucky you! What a nice neighbor.
The cake looks so good!
Too funny on leaving in the pits. I know I wold have done the same. This cake sounds delicious!
Oh wow….luscious and delicious looking cake….Almonds and cherries make it rich, rich, richer…..
Tami – yes, he was very nice to let me pick the cherries :) Everyone in this neighborhood is very nice, I'm lucky :)
Clivia – I was wondering if anyone would read through all my blabber and see that I did that LOL!
Kitchen Flavours – I agree, almonds and cherries are a fabulous combo!
Mmm, pits and all! ;)
I prefer making things with sour cherries instead of sweet cherries and now I'm really a little jealous. No one anywhere near me has any fruit trees! ;)
I'm still laughing about the pits. The bowl full of cherries looks like they are perfect. And the cake looks great, too!
I want some now Please!
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
katrina – I laughed my butt off when I took the first bite. Still shaking my head about forgetting the pit the cherries! HA! Just had a piece of this for breakfast and it's soooooo good!
Pam – Sure, come on over! :)
This looks and sounds delicious! My husband would LOVE it.
Well done!
I wish you were my neighbor!!! What a great cake, I love the use of different cherries :)
Cherries and almonds go so well together! YUM!
Thanks Emily. I guess I'm lucky, I am the only one in this house that appreciates cherries!
Jennifer – ah to be neighbors with all of blogland! Wouldn't it be divine?
Maria – Yes, cherries and almond make for a fabulous flavor combination :) The sweetness of the almond compliments the tartness of the cherries.
I adore cherries and almonds and this looks amazing! YUMMY :D
Now I'm jealous! free cherries for the picking, you lucky girl!! Your cake looks wonderful!!
Very jealous. I wish I had acces to fresh sour cherries. YOur cake looks delicious!
Leaving the pits in. Sounds like something I would have done. Oh dear.
I love cherries in almost anything. This looks like a good bet to enjoy those cherries and the cake too.
This looks delicious – my mouth is watering. I love almond and cherry flavors together.
Thanks for stopping – enjoy your maple syrup!
-Lee
yum. cherries and almonds just belong together
Sounds chewy! Wonderful that your neighbor let you pick cherries from his tree! That's a great neighbor (and I bet he appreciated you taking them so they didn't go to waste).
Umm, yum sour cherries seem to be in the air these days and I don't get tired looking a the fabulous desserts cherries make!
Mmm looks so good! Love the fresh cherries!
Love this post! This cake looks great. Never would have know you left the pits out or did not poke holes.
Yummo! What a gorgeous cake. Wish I had a neighbour who grew too many cherries. LOL about the pits – makes the texture more interesting ;)
Delicious! I love that the cherries are all at the bottom – may I have a slice (or two)?
HA, that is funny….must have been hilarious to watch, too! So ladylike. heee-hee!
Your cake looks so moist and how lucky to have access to sour cherries.
~ingrid
I just made your cherry cake, but I made mine with bing cherries, since that is what I had. I had to cook it about 20 minutes longer than stated because the batter was just not setting up. I am taking it to a meeting later tonight. I'll let you know how it tasted. It looks pretty.
Everyone loved the cake and had seconds. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE RECIPE!
Susan that is fabulous! I bet it was awesome with bing cherries! Thank you for stopping by and telling me!
Hi Amanda, this is Pattycakes from AR. I was looking for a dessert for Fathers Day. This would be terrific! Not sure I can get a hold of sour cherries and i would like to try it with them. i will look at the markets around the house and if I can't find them,I will ask if they can order some for me. It looks soo good! I love your site, soo cute:) Gotta go. Thanks again.Patty
hi Patty! :) check the farmer's markets, they are usually only available in early summer, but now would be the perfect time. I've never seen them at the grocery store, but I have seen them at farmer's markets :)
I love almond flavor and cherries so I can imagine how good this cake is!
I just have to tell you Amanda, I made your Vanilla Zucchini Muffins. OMG!! I made them exactly the way you wrote. I had a 1/8 bag of dried chopped fruit and threw in some craisins,sliced almonds and even added a bit more vanilla, I just can't help myself, LOL They were just the Best! Great with coffee. Thank You Thank You. I loved them, I know you couldn't tell:) Adios, Patty
Thanks Patty! I am so glad you loved them! And even more vanilla, must have made them all the better :) http://www.amandascookin.com/2010/07/vanilla-zucchini-muffins.html
I found this through a search today and made it tonight. It was very good!!! I sprinkled 1/4 cup sliced almonds over it before baking and I had to use frozen cherries that I defrosted, rinsed, and drained. Yummy!
After moving to a house with a cherry tree, I couldn't stand to see the cherries go to waste, even though I'm not a fan of them. After researching recipes, I decided to try this one, and I loved it! I added cool whip to top it off and even my husband, a non-cherry lover as well enjoyed it and kept raving about how good it was! Thanks so much for sharing it!
So glad you both enjoyed it!
I just made this cake yesterday, and it is sooooo good! We have a sour cherry tree in our yard, and while it's small and only in the second year of production, it produces tons of cherries. My cake was a caved in toward the middle a bit, though; the outer edges all around were perfectly cooked and shaped, but the center was more moist and chewy indented. We really liked it this way, actually–very tasty!! Thanks for the recipe–it's a keeper!!
I think mine sunk a little in the middle too, but the flavor remained awesome, so glad you loved it! :)
Do you think this would work with sweet cherries? My husband's birthday is today and he LOVES anything with cherries and almond! Thanks so much!
Hi Katie
I haven't tried it with sweet cherries but I'm sure it would be fine. If you are looking for a cherry cake using cherry pie filling you might want to try this one http://www.amandascookin.com/2011/02/cherry-cake-with-cherry-cream-cheese.html I love it! There's also this one http://www.amandascookin.com/2011/03/cherry-almond-cake-in-cast-iron-skillet.html which uses marischino cherries :)
Loved the cake. It was so moist, there was a nice hint of almond flavour and the cake didn't over power the star of the show – the cherries.
Hi!! I just finished making this recipe and it is so delicious. I made a double batch because I had so many cherries. Instead of one 8 inc, I made 3 6 inch cakes.
I'm having a difficult time NOT eating all of it by myself!
Thanks for posting!!
Thanks so much both of you, I am so glad everyone enjoys it so much!