Easy Sour Cherry Cake with Almonds

Living in Central and Eastern Europe for several years, sour cherries are a common part of summer sweets. All over the place, these tart cherries are incorporated into lots of different baked goods and sweet treats and it’s something that I seriously developed a taste for.

Sour cherries aren’t quite as commonplace here in Australia, however, my in-laws have a friend who can source them directly from the farm! So every summer, I get several kilos of these cherries, spend a good amount of time pitting them (my kitchen always looks like a murder scene afterwards!) and then freeze them for future use.

And that is why I developed this simple teacake with sour cherries! One of the moistest cakes you will ever eat, it’s super simple to make and keeps getting better the longer it sits on the countertop!

How to Make a Sour Cherry Cake

First off, you need to prepare your pan – I like using a springform pan because it makes unmoulding a breeze.

Grease the sides and bottoms and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Then, go ahead and set it aside until needed.

Because cherries and almonds go so well together, I like to incorporate a bit of almond flour into this cake. And to really amplify the almond flavour, I like to toast it quickly.

All you need to do is add the almond flour to a skillet and set it over medium heat. Stirring frequently, toast the flour until it darkens slightly in colour and becomes really fragrant – this will take a few minutes.

Once the almond flour is toasted, add it to a bowl with some plain flour, a bit of baking soda and baking powder as well as a pinch of salt. Whisk all of this together to combine.

Now, in a larger mixing bowl, add some sugar and a bit of orange zest. Use your fingertips to massage the zest into the sugar until the sugar resembles wet sand and it’s very fragrant. This just helps to release the oils in the zest and gives the cake a nice, orangy flavour.

Then, crack in a couple of eggs and pour in some buttermilk. Whisk vigorously to combine and, whisking constantly, stream in some oil. Keep whisking until everything is nicely emulsified.

Now you can add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients – whisk these together until just combined. Afterwards, whisk in a bit of orange blossom water. If you don’t have this, you can also go ahead and just use some vanilla extract – your cake will still be phenomenal!

At this point, it’s time to stir in the cherries. You can use fresh or frozen cherries here and if you are using frozen, you don’t need to defrost them before mixing them in!

Fold about 3/4 of your cherries into the batter and then scrape the batter into your prepared pan.

Dot the top of the cake with your remaining cherries and then sprinkle the top with some demerara sugar.

Then, put the cake in a 180°C/350°F oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes – or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted!

Go ahead and let the cake cool completely in the tin before unmoulding and serving – this doesn’t take too long and it’s not nearly as bad as waiting for something like a strawberry-rhubarb pie to cool!

You can eat the cake the day you make it, but it is actually even better the second day. Just keep it wrapped at room temperature until you’re ready to serve!

And that’s how you make this super simple sour cherry and almond cake! It’s ultra moist and absolutely delicious.

Are you after a cake made with sour cherries? Have any questions about this recipe? Let me know in the comments!