Cherry is one of my favourite fruits. However as much as I love eating fresh cherries, I am not really a fan of cherry flavoured sweets.
But this cake had a very nice taste which I really liked. I managed to try one piece during the celebration where I brought it and I was satisfied. The base was soft and moist and the cream – rich. It was delicious!
For a long time I was looking for a good cherry cake recipe. I just couldn’t miss the cherry season this year without baking a nice cake with this wonderful fruit. When I found this recipe I really liked it, even though I decided to change it a bit. And then I even found an occasion to make a cherry cake: the celebration for the new daughter of a friend.
I liked very much the original recipe for a cake with 2 layers but unfortunately I didn’t have time to bake more than one. For that reason I baked the whole batch in my 24 cm cake pan. But when it was ready it looked to me too thin, so I decided to add more height with a biscuit base on top. The result was quite nice, however next time I would probably make the cake in two layers just because I love layered cakes.
As the cake was made for a celebration I didn’t manage to take a good picture of a piece. The one I got is not perfect at all but still gives some idea of the inside.
I wanted the decoration to be simple and elegant. Looking for such effect I placed fondant leaves around and flowers on top (I promise that very soon I will also make a tutorial how to create simple but impressive fondant flowers for your cakes).
I am happy that I managed to bring the cake to the party without damaging it (I had a little adventure while getting there). I am also glad that it was very appreciated by the hostess and by the guests.
Ingredients (adapted by Sprinkle Bakes):
For the cake base:
200 g cherries, pitted and halved
100 g almond flour
200 g sugar
100 g butter, very soft
200 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅓ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
200 g plain yogurt
3 eggs
50 ml morello cherry liqueur
1 tbs vanilla extract
For the biscuit base and the frosting:
175 g cream cheese
50 + 50 g white chocolate
250 g caster sugar
80 g butter, very soft
100 g soft butter biscuits, crashed in crumbs
2 tbs morello cherry liqueur
Method:
Cake base:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease one 23-24 cm spring form pan and line it with a circle of baking paper (alternatively grease two 17-19 cm spring form pans).
In a small bowl combine cherries and almond flour and mix well until the moisture of the cherries is absorbed by the almonds.
In another bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.
Separately in a large mixing bowl beat the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add egg yolks, yogurt, vanilla extract and liqueur and whisk until homogeneous. Add the flour mixture in two batches and continue whisking. Fold the cherry and almond mixture into the batter. Finally fold stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter.
Pour the batter into prepared cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the base becomes golden brown (about 40-60 minutes). Remove the cake from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then transfer it to a rack to cool completely.
Biscuit base and frosting:
In a large bowl beat cream cheese, butter and caster sugar until fluffy. Melt 50 g white chocolate over a bowl of simmering water (or in the microwave on very low power) and fold it into the mixture.
Divide the cream in two equal parts. Add the biscuit crumbs and the cherry liqueur to the first half and mix until homogeneous. This is the biscuit base.
Melt the rest 50 g white chocolate and fold it into the second half of the cream. This is the frosting.
Cake assembly:
Place the cooled cake base into a serving plate or a cake stand and pour the biscuit base over. Smooth well with a spatula and let stay in the freezer for 10 minutes. Spread evenly the frosting around the cake.
Note: If you decide to make a two layered cake, you can skip the biscuits and use all the rest of the ingredients to make the frosting. Apply the frosting between the two bases and around the cake.
Decoration ideas:
– fondant (put it directly on the frosting)
– whipped cream and whole fresh cherries
– white chocolate shaves or figures
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