Cherry Almond Cake

My daughter, Lauren, requested a cherry cake for her birthday and that the white frosting (I used IMB) be decorated with pink and purple flowers.  Her sister, Lisa, wanted a cheesecake.  They don’t care for the “t-word,” so let’s just say that they’re the same age, and for the last 27 years, we’ve had two birthday cakes.  When they were toddlers, I could get away with making a 9 x 13 and frosting two halves, but that won’t fly any more.  I can’t link you to Lisa’s cheesecake recipe, she selected her favorite flavor from The Cheesecake Factory.  I avoid any maternal guilt about not baking for her by telling myself that I drove to the mall and fought parking lot traffic for her on the Saturday before Christmas.

I’ve never made a cherry cake before but I took inspiration from a couple of recipes on the internet – one that forgot to add sugar and one that was baked in jars, but you should know that I added sugar and baked my cake in 3-9 inch cake pans.

The cake was not something I would describe as moist; the texture was reminiscent of a pound cake – dense with a nice crust.  I loved the addition on cherries and almonds, two of my favorite flavors.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 jars maraschino cherries
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup finely ground almonds

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325
• Prepare 3-9 inch cake pans with baking spray with flour
• Line the pan bottoms with parchment
• Cream the butter and cheese
• Beat in sugar
• Beat in the eggs and vanilla and almond extract
• Mix in 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt
• Slice cherries and coat in 1/4 cup flour
• Fold floured cherries and ground almonds into batter
• Bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
• Frost as desired

Note: I think this cake would be great  in a loaf pan or pans, unadorned as a coffee cake.  

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