I promised some sour cherry recipes from my Cherry Picking in Philly post, and voila! a Chocolate Cherry Almond Cake. You’ve probably noticed that chocolate desserts aren’t really my vice. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say I don’t like chocolate. I do. But I’m kind of a purist about it. As in straight up, deep dark chocolate – chocolate. Maybe a Deep Dark Salted Caramel Truffle now and then, but chocolate cake? Not so much. But, when I set out to make yet another almond cake dessert, I got nervous that I might bore you too much. And that’s when I decided that perhaps a touch, or rather a half pound of deep dark chocolate might not be so bad in a cake, as long as it was a dense almond cake studded with sour cherries. And don’t worry, I was right, the Chocolate Cherry Almond Cake wasn’t bad in the least. In fact, it was down right delicious. Best of all? Chocolate Cherry Almond Cake is a great year round cake because it works well with frozen cherries. And I can assure you, it would be great with raspberries or blackberries too. Just imagine little pockets of dark blackberries hidden in the deep chocolate cake… It looks like I’m headed back to kitchen next blackberry season. In the meantime, a Chocolate Cherry Almond Cake will have to do. Poor us.
- 1 cup flour minus 2 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or cake enhancer
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 can almond paste (8 ounces)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 eggs; room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 16 ounces pitted, drained sour cherries* see note below
- 8 ounces very dark chocolate (I used 72%)
Crème fraîche or whipped cream for serving
- Reduced cherry juice for serving
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Butter a bundt pan (a 9-inch springform pan works too).
- Melt the chunks or chips of chocolate gently in the microwave (seriously, short increments- it’s easy to melt chocolate in the microwave and saves a lot of time and mess vs. a double boiler, but if you are impatient, it’s easy to burn.
Let cool while you prepare the rest of the batter. - [gallery columns="5" ids="5009,5019,5014,5012,5015"]
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the sugar with the almond paste until crumbly.
- Add the butter and beat at high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated between additions. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Pour in the melted chocolate. Mix in the cornstarch, baking powder and salt just until incorporated.
- Add in the flour until just incorporated.
- Fold in cherries.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (if you use a springform or other solid pan rather than the bundt pan it will likely need to cook longer). Transfer the cake to a rack and let cool.
Slice. 
Serve warm or at room temperature topped with crème fraîche and cherry syrup. 
Added bonus, it’s easy to make this cake ahead- it just gets better with time..
- *Note on the cherries: If you’re using frozen sour cherries, you need to defrost them. If you didn't plan ahead and defrost them in the fridge, then heat them in a pot on the stove on low until they’re almost room temp. Then strain out 16 ounces of cherries.
If the cherries were not sweetened (unlikely, usually frozen cherries are in sugar as a extra preservative) you should add sugar during this process to taste. I reduce the cherry juice and sugar down to a syrup and use it for drizzling on top of this cake, as well as pancakes and waffles, or whisking into cherry lemonades and cocktails.
