Sweet Cherry Almond Cake

This Sweet Cherry Almond Cake recipe is tender and packed full of jammy, plump sweet cherries. It’s an easy single layer cake recipe to pull together and with a hint of almond, vanilla and lemon, it’s full of flavor. Use the freshest summer fruit in this cake and in other summer favorites like Blueberry Cornmeal Crisp and Carrot Cake with Pineapple. This recipe is vegetarian and easily dairy free. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recipe Review: “So yummy! Made it twice in 7 days for colleagues, friends and family, and everyone loved it. Will have to try it with other fruit variations. Thank you for a wonderful recipe and step by step, easy to follow instructions.” ~ Nikolina 

A Little Fresh Cherry Cake Backstory

This easy cherry cake recipe is a loosely adapted version of Marian Burros’s famous Plum Torte recipe originally printed in 1983 in the New York Times. I tried it for the first time years ago while I was practicing at home during pastry school, and its become a beloved late summer cake easily adaptable to just about any juicy fruit. My favorite, turns out, is fresh sweet cherry. 

An ultra tender, delicate, moist and light crumb, with just the right balance of sweet, this homemade cherry almond cake recipe is easy to pull together and freezer friendly, least you attempt to eat it all in one setting (seriously).

The cherries turn into soft, jammy goodness and the crumb is the most tender of crumbs with a nice texture thanks in part to almond flour. A sprinkle of sugar on the batter pre-bake turns into a thin layer of crackly crust. My heart is all a flutter! 

If you love homemade cake recipes, you’ll enjoy this simple cherry cake.

About the Key Ingredients

• Unbleached All Purpose Flour – for a light and tender crumb, I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic All Purpose Flour. 
• Almond Flour – adds flavor and texture. Be sure to use super-fine almond flour in this recipe. I use Bob’s Red Mill. 
• Cane Sugar – cane sugar has a larger grain size than granulated sugar and is less refined. 
• Unsalted Butter or Melted Coconut Oil – either can be used here. For the butter, you’ll use a stand mixer for mixing the batter. With coconut oil, since you’ll melt it first, you can mix with a bowl and spoon. 
• Fresh Sweet Cherries – I use Bing cherries for this cake. They’re sweet and have a beautiful bright cherry color.
• Fresh Lemon – you need zest and juice for this cake. It brightens the flavors of the cake and offers a hint of lemony flavor. 

At a Glance: How to Make Cherry Cake 

After pitting the cherries, mixing this cake is super simple. You’ll need a mixer for the butter version. If using the dairy free (coconut oil) version, a whisk and strong arm will do.

• First, pit the cherries and slice most into 1/4 pieces, some 1/2 pieces.
• Second, using a mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. If using coconut oil, simply melt the oil and pour it into a mixing bowl with the sugar and whisk vigorously for about one minute. 
• Third, mix in the eggs, extracts, lemon zest and juice. The batter will look broken. Press on!
• Next, sift in the almond and AP flour, salt and baking powder and mix until just incorporated. The batter will be very thick.
• Last, fold in the quartered cherries. Scrape the batter into a prepared cake pan. Place the halved cherries on top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake!

This cherry almond-flavored cake will need to cool completely before sharing.  Enjoy with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream.

Variations on Sweet Cherry Almond Cake

This cherry cake recipe can be made with other juicy summer fruits as well. I’ve made plum, strawberry and this cherry cake. I’m thinking peach or apricot would be fun to play with too. 

The bake time will be longer however, if using juicier fruit. Deb at Smitten Kitchen shares the original plum torte recipe. Worth a look if you plan on making it.  

Traci’s Tips

• Freezer friendly? Yes please! Once the cake is completely cool, wrap it snugly in plastic wrap, or storage container and freeze for up to two weeks. Thaw at room temperature.
• This fresh cherry cake is delicious shared warm with a bit of ice cream. Gently rewarm in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes.

*Update* May 2022

This cake has received glowing five star reviews here and on social media, but also, several makers reported the cake soggy or under done. I’ve remade the recipe (multiple times), baking it right at 38 minutes. The results have been as expected. Here are a few additional tips to help ensure success.

• Super Fine Almond Flour is a must – I use Bob’s Red Mill. This has a different texture than almond meal or natural almond flour and will impact the cake’s outcome if not used.
• Use Cane Sugar (as called for in the recipe) rather than granulated sugar as it has a larger grain size than granulated. Most online forums say there’s no difference in using either or, but my bakery experience has proven otherwise. You can see the difference it makes in cookies on my blog post (cane sugar) and recipe video (granulated sugar) for these Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies.
• Use firm, fresh cherries. Older fruit tends to be softer and juicier.
• Employ an oven thermometer. New and old ovens alike vary in calibration. An oven thermometer will allow you to know the exact internal temperature of your oven, and you can adjust as necessary. It’s an essential tool in every baker’s kitchen.
• Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. It’s more accurate than volume measurements, which is why professional bakers weigh their ingredients.
• Use room temperature ingredients.
• Use the toothpick test to see if your cake is done. When a toothpick is inserted in the cake, it should come out with very few crumbs, if any on it. You may have to poke around to avoid poking into a cherry.
• Keep the oven door closed until the last minutes of baking to do the toothpick test.
• Allow your cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Once out of the pan, allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature before removing the bottom part of the spring form pan and/or cutting into into the cake. Cooling is an important part of crumb development in baked goods (it even has a name, carryover).

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Sweet Cherry Almond Cake

4.79 stars (from 33 ratings)

By Traci York

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 35 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 8 Slices

Made with fresh cherries, this single layer Cherry Almond Cake is tender, super moist and packed full of jammy fresh sweet cherries! It's easy to make too. You can make this recipe vegetarian or, it's easily dairy free.

UPDATE (5/22): read *update* notes above the recipe card. This cake has received glowing five star reviews here and on social, but also, several makers reported the cake soggy or under done. It's my hope that the additional notes will support success.

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 Cups (300 grams) Sweet Cherries, I use Bing
• ▢ 1/2 Cup (113 grams) Unsalted Butter, room temperature or 1/2 Cup unrefined melted coconut oil + more for greasing the pan
• ▢ 3/4 Cup (165 grams) Organic Cane Sugar, + 1.5 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
• ▢ Lemon Zest, from one lemon
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice, about 1/2 a lemon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract, optional
• ▢ 2 Whole Eggs, large, at room temperature
• ▢ 3/4 Cup (110 grams) All Purpose Flour, unbleached
• ▢ 1/4 Cup (30 grams) Super Fine Almond Flour, I use Bob's Red Mill
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt

Instructions 

Prepare:

• Using unsalted butter or coconut oil, grease an 8" spring form pan (20 centimeter) non stick, or cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment. grease the parchment. Set aside.

Pit and Slice the Cherries:

• Pit the cherries (this is the Cherry Pitter I use). Cut about a hand full in halves about 1/4 cup), set aside. Cut the remaining in quarters. The halves will be used to dot the top of the cake with so keep those separate. The quarters will be folded into the cake. Set aside.

Make the Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius). Arrange an oven rack in the center of the oven.
• If Using Butter: In the bowl of a Stand Mixer add the room temperature butter and sugar. Set a timer for 5 minutes and using the paddle attachment (or handheld beaters), beat on medium (speed 4 if using a KitchenAid) for five minutes. The mixture will be light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl.

  If Using Coconut Oil: In a large mixing bowl, add the melted coconut oil (it should be warm to touch) and sugar. Using a whisk, beat the mixture until the sugar is smooth and the ingredients come together, about 1-2 minutes. (You can use a stand mixer or handheld beaters here if you like). Scrape down the bowl.
• To the sugar/fat mixture, add the lemon zest and juice, and extracts. Add eggs, one at a time, and whisk for about 10-15 seconds each or until each egg is broken up. The mixture will look broken at this point. Scrape down the bowl, all the way to the bottom. Into the mixing bowl, sift in the flours, baking powder and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined and no more dry flour is visible. The batter will be thick. Fold the quartered cherries into the batter.
• Scrape the batter into the pan, pressing it in and evenly smooth the top using an Offset Spatula. Arrange the halved cherries on top of the cake, cut side facing up or down (no need to press them in - just set them on top - the cake will bake up and around them). Sprinkle the top of the cake with 1 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.
• Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes OR until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top is golden and springs back when gentle pressure is applied.

  Cool for 20 minutes. Use a paring knife to ease the cake away from the pan around the circumference of the pan, then remove the cake from the pan. Cool completely on a cooling rack.
• Share simply or top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or ice cream. Store at room temperature, covered for up to three days. Reheat in a 325 Fahrenheit oven for about 10 minutes.

Video

Notes

Once completely cool, Sweet Cherry Almond Cake freezes with ease. Wrap snugly in cling wrap or foil, then freeze for up to two weeks. Thaw at room temperature. 

This recipe is adapted from NYT Original Plum Torte by Marian Burros. However since only visible with a subscription through the Times, see Smitten Kitchen for the original Plum Torte Recipe if needed.

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 55mg | Potassium: 167mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 435IU | Vitamin C: 2.9mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

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