Cake #30 - Dried Cherry and Almond Cake

Sometimes I get the idea that there's an ingredient I want to use (or an ingredient I have on hand) and so I trawl the internet for recipes.  In this case, dried cherries was sounding yummy, and I found a dried cherry coffee cake recipe at Allrecipes.com.  I'm sure I don't need to tell any seasoned baker who pulls recipes from the internet that you should be sure to check the comments.  Based on the comments and reviews I doubled the amount of cherries from 1/2 cup to a full cup; I used almonds atop the cake instead of pecans; and I used plain yogurt and vanilla extract instead of vanilla yogurt.  The recipe below accounts for those adjustments.

I brought the cake to work for a monthly birthday celebration, and compared to the pecan pie and the ginger-stout cake, my humble coffee cake was not the favorite.  However, I was pleased with it.  It was quick to bring together (I love cakes that use oil, rather than butter, for that reason - just stir them up and into the cake pan they go!) and baked quickly too.  It was a delicate cake with a good flavor.

I don't prefer nuts in baked goods (or ice cream, for that matter) - I don't like the way they get chewy, rather than crunchy.  This recipe perfectly accounts for that, with the nuts only on the top, so they stay crispy and make a nice topping for the cake.  The original recipe called for pecans, but after using the almond extract to plump the dried cherries, and knowing how delicious almond-cherry combinations are, I went with almonds.  It might be worth a try with pecans too.

Dried Cherry and Almond Cake

1 cup chopped dried cherries (they’re easier to chop if you butter the knife and the cutting board)

½ cup hot water

½ teaspoon almond extract

1½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1 (8 ounce) container vanilla yogurt (or plain yogurt with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract – I used Greek yogurt)

½ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 egg white

¼ cup slivered almonds (or chopped pecans)

1 tablespoon white sugar

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.  Line with parchment paper, butter the parchment paper, and then coat with flour, tapping out the extra.

2.       Combine cherries, hot water, and almond extract: let stand 20 minutes. Drain cherries, and pat dry between layers of paper towels.  Set aside.

3.       In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 cup white sugar. Add yogurt, eggs, and oil. Stir until just combined. Fold in cherries. Pour batter into prepared pan.

4.       Stir almonds and 1 tablespoon white sugar together. Sprinkle on top of batter in pan.

5.       Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, before turning out onto a serving platter (you’ll have to invert it to get the almonds topping facing up). Serve warm, or at room temperature.

From allrecipes.com