Let Them Eat Cake

Back in June for bookclub, we read Beach Trip. I decided to try this recipe for coconut lime cake, because it sounded beachy and summery, and I like lime a lot and coconut too. It was super yummy. It takes some prep time, but it was worth it. The only change I made was to pour a tiny amount of coconut extract into the coconut milk for a tiny bit of extra flavor. I will also note that after about day 3, it wasn't quite as good as it was on day 1 or 2.

Just this weekend, I tried the following cake because we've had the most gorgeous cherries in season and because it sounded good. I got the recipe out of a cookbook called Colorado Colore. I really love this cookbook. I find myself trying more and more recipes from it. The recipe for baked potato soup is now my go to recipe as is the recipe for chicken tortilla soup. Anyhow, the recipe calls for black cherries. I used fresh Rainier cherries, and I don't think anything was hurt for the substitution. The filling soaks into the cake and creates a moist cake with a bit of a cream cheese ribbon in it that contains almonds and cherries. It is not too sweet, which makes the sweet icing taste great with it.

Black Cherry Almond Cake

Cherry Filling

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup fresh or frozen black cherries, cut into halves

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Icing

2 cups confectioners' icing

1/4 to 1/2 cup cream (I used 5 to 6 Tbsp). See pictures to see how drippy that makes icing

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the Filling: beat the cream cheese, sugar and egg in a mixing bowl until smooth. Fold in the cherries and almonds.

For the cake: sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and mix well. Beat the sour cream, butter, eggs and flavorings in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture and mix well.

Spoon half of the batter into a greased and lightly floured bundt pan or tub pan. Spread with the filling and top with the remaining cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until the cake tests done. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing: combine the confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup cream, butter and flavorings in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth, adding additional cream if needed for the desired consistency. Spread the icing over the top and side of the cake.