Cherries are ripe for the pickin’ in the Land of Steady Habits–didjaknow? Belltown Hill Orchards kicked off pick-your-own cherries yesterday, thus I hopped in the katmobile, headed for Glastonbury and grabbed a pail.
I couldn’t leave Belltown without sampling their own cherry donuts…yes, made with freshly picked cherries right from their orchards!
If you are anywhere near, please get there during cherry season to enjoy one yourself! Nowhere near me? That’s OK, we can bake this moist and delicious cherry almond cake instead.
As anyone who knows me realizes, I pick to bake–ALWAYS. If you’re an almond lover–and I absolutely am–this cake has your name written all over it.
KATTY’S CHERRY ALMOND CAKE
adapted from Williams Sonoma
1 cup sliced almonds (3/4 cup to grind, 1/4 cup to reserve for topping)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (I used Paneangeli lievito vaniglinato per dolci)
1/4 teaspoon (heaping) salt
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (for sprinkling on top)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups fresh Bing cherries, pitted and halved
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch pie plate.
Using a mini food processor, add 3/4 cup almonds, flour, baking powder and salt. Process until almonds are finely ground. Set aside.
Use your stand mixer to cream butter with sugar. Add eggs one by one, blending each one till fully incorporated. Add almond extract.
With mixer on low, blend in flour mixture gradually–do not overmix.
Spread batter evenly into buttered pie plate. Place cherries atop batter. Mix together remaining 1/4 cup of almonds with 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar–sprinkle around edges of cake.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Tastes fantastic warm. Dig in!
June 13, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Oh my! Lovely! I LOVE cherries and almonds together.
June 13, 2010 at 4:46 pm
10Q–they really are a winning combo, huh?! Endless possibilities, too…maybe gelato!
June 13, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Gorgeous, as usual! I’m sure it is delicious.
We had cherries for the first time this year. I had enough for one dessert.
Depressing to see the bugs infest 95% and the birds eat most of them.
This year must have been a good one for cherries. We never had enough before to have any ripe ones. I wasn’t even sure what the little green things on the tree were. I didn’t know I needed to spray it!
June 13, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Thanks, it’s what was for breakfast! 🙂
Scargod, you and Ard should take a road trip to Glastonbury to pick. So beautiful up there. All the trees are under netting, so no free bird food…maybe netting for the garden next year at your place?
June 13, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Yes please! I would love some of that magnificent looking cake 🙂
June 13, 2010 at 4:55 pm
If only it were easier to share at a distance! 🙂 Thank you kindly.
June 13, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Hope, this post is amazing, the photos of the cherries and the cake are perfect,love the before and after, absolutely gorgeous! The cherry donut looks pretty good too! I would make this cake for a dinner party and everyone would love it! But, I’m feeling the need to eat a bit less for a few days after a weekend of eating and drinking in Portland, so I’ll save your cake recipe for now and come back to while the cherries are in season, thanks for sharing.
June 13, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Patty, that means so much to me–thank you! Please know that (once again) you inspired this one with your sweet cherry almond muffins! That donut was easily in my top 5 donuts of all time, too! Glad you had a nice weekend away!
June 14, 2010 at 6:57 am
I just remembered…I made a similar coffee cake from a Rachel Ray recipe a couple years ago. It was quite tasty, although extremely decadent with lots of butter. Here’s the recipe, in case you have more cherries to use: http://culinspiration.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/rachel-rays-cherry-coffee-cake/
June 14, 2010 at 7:07 am
Hard to go wrong with cherry and almond, isn’t it? Yum!
June 14, 2010 at 10:07 am
Lovely cake must be incredible moist, with the cherries popping in your mouth. Yummm.
June 30, 2010 at 1:11 pm
All those lovely cherries in the cake with almonds. Like the sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top. Just lovely!
July 1, 2010 at 10:55 am
Thanks, Cristina! It was especially pretty with the cherries on top. Just as tasty with black raspberries, but nowhere near is photo-perfect. 🙂
August 27, 2012 at 11:22 pm
This looks unbelievably delicious! I have almond flour in my freezer — do you think that would work in place of the step of grinding the almonds?
August 28, 2012 at 5:52 am
Thank you and yes, for sure! Just remember, that would be 3/4 cup almond flour, then 1/4 cup sliced almonds for the topping. 🙂 Let me know how you make out! 🙂