Cherry Almond Pound Cake
February is National Cherry Month. I could not let the month end without making something with cherries.
I would like to make my mother’s cherry pie but it is impossible to find fresh cherries in any store at this time of the year. My mother’s pie calls for fresh sour cherries. Fresh sweet cherries are readily available in stores later in the year but I have never been able to find fresh sour cherries.
We had a very abundant cherry tree in our front yard when I was growing up. My mother always froze some so we could have cherry pie
Since I could not recreate my mother’s delicious pie, I had to settle for this yummy pound cake. While it uses canned cherries, it still echos the flavors of my mother’s pie. She always added a dash of almond extract. It is rich and delicious with a tang of cherries.
- 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 can cherry pie filling
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp half and half
- 1/4 tsp almond extract or vanilla
-
Preheat the oven to 325°. Generously grease and flour a bundt pan.
Cream the butter until smooth and then add sugar and beat until it’s light and fluffy or for about 5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time. Add the almond extract and beat until mixed.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add half of the dry ingredients and then half of the milk, beating just until the flour is partially combined.
Then add the second half of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining milk. Continue to beat until all ingredients are well combined.
Strain the cherry pie filling extract the cherries from the juice/filling.
Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the bottom of the pan. Spoon 1/2 of the cherries into the batter and 2-3 tablespoons of the cherry filling. Swirl into the batter. Top with another 1/3 of the batter and spoon remaining cherries and another 2-3 tablespoons filling over top. Finish off with remaining batter.
Bake at 325° for 65-70 minutes. You can cover with aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too brown.
Cool for 15 minutes and flip on to plate to continue cooling. Allow to cool 2-3 hours before glazing.
-
Soften cream cheese in the microwave.
Combine the cream cheese with the powdered sugar.
Add the half & half, until the glaze reaches the desired thickness. Stir in almond extract.
Drizzle it over the cake.
Recipe adapted from Beyond Frosting
If you would like to experiment with some other cherry recipes, check out my “February is National Cherry Month” board on Pinterest.
