Fresh Cherry Cake

By Christy Rost

Ingredients:

2 ½		cups flour
1		teaspoon baking soda
1		teaspoon salt
½		teaspoon baking powder
1		cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ½		cups sugar
2		eggs
1/3		cup sour cream
1 ½		teaspoons vanilla
½		teaspoon almond extract
½		cup milk
1		pound dark sweet cherries, pitted and quartered
2		tablespoons flour
3		tablespoons confectioners sugar, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is very light and fluffy, about 8 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, toss the cherries with the remaining flour and gently fold the cherries into the cake batter.

Spray a 9-inch springform pan with Bakers Joy® or other nonstick cooking spray and pour the cake batter into the pan. Bake in a preheated oven approximately 1 hour 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Cool the cake on a wire rack 30 minutes, then loosen the spring and remove the outer rim. Cool the cake completely. Just before serving, dust the top with confectioners sugar.

Recipe makes 1 cake.