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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Almond and Cherry Torte



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...A happy convergence of incidents led to the creation of this buttery torte. While sorting through my pantry, I found a half-used container of glaceed cherries that were still edible and soft enough to use. The prior evening I'd stumbled on a, new-to-me, site called Cake Crumbs and Cooking The feature that day had been a cherry cake that sounded like it would be perfect for tea or dessert. A version of the recipe also appeared in Delia Online and in the BBC Good Food Magazine. Thus, armed with cherries and several recipes, all of which had been well-received, I began to make my first ever cherry cake. The first step was to convert ingredients from metric to standard US measure. That done, I made a few changes to the base recipe to reflect the fact I had no self-rising flour and only half the cherries suggested in the original recipe. Undeterred, I carried on and within two hours had a lovely cake with a soft buttery crumb and marvelous almond flavor. Unfortunately, while they added texture to the cake the taste of the cherries was barely perceptible. In an effort to keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake, I halved and rinsed the cherries as had been suggested. I took the additional step of tossing them with flour before adding them to the cake batter. All that changed nothing. They sank anyway and probably lost flavor when their syrup was washed away. The strange thing is that I liked the cake and found the fruit almost superfluous. The cake is barely sweet but the almond meal and topping make it extremely flavorful. It is far more like a Viennese torte that a cherry cake. Would I make it again? Not with glaceed cherries, unless I had leftover bounty from my Christmas cooking. While I've heard some classify this dessert as being cheap as chips, it is not inexpensive to make and, while it is lovely, I like more bang for my buck. For those of you who are curious, here's the recipe.

Almond and Cherry Torte...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, adapted from several British sources

Ingredients:
2 sticks (8-oz.) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 small container (8-oz.) glace cherries, halved and rinsed
1 cup (4-oz.) ground almonds
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup (2-oz.) flaked almonds
Confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of a high sided 8-inch cake pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Grease paper. Dust bottom and sides of pan with flour.
2) Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until incorporated. Add almond extract and mix to combine.
3) Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Fold into egg mixture. Fold in cherries, almonds and milk.
4) Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Level top and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake for 1¼ -1½ hrs or until cake has risen and is firm to the touch.
5) Remove cake from oven and cool in pan for 30 minutes. Turn pan onto wire rack to cool completely.
6) Dust top of cake with confectioners' sugar just before serving. Yield: 12 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Toscatarta - One Perfect Bite
Lemon and Almond Tart - One Perfect Bite
Chinese-Style Almond Cookies - One Perfect Bite

49 comments:

  1. Looks delicious enough from the photo.

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  2. It is freezing here..I have the fire on with a pot of tea, a slice of this would be perfect!

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  3. Two of my top favourite ingredients in one cake! I love it!

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  4. Looks so moist and wonderful :)

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  5. It looks lovely, and I like the texture. But sinking fruit is what always turned me down. My mom used to make a quick yogurt cake with raisins, they always sank and I'd just throw away the bottom of each piece of cake :)))

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  6. A "Vienna Torte" sounds so much better than "Cherry Cake"~ even if it is the same recipe.

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  7. Hi Mary,
    This torte looks delicious!!
    Hope you have a lovely Sunday,
    Lia.

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  8. Hi Mary,
    Your photo is just gorgeous! Have a great day!

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  9. Sounds like you have a pretty yummy Viennese Almond torte on your hands. Sorry the glaceed cherries didn't work out so well. Not being a fan of glaceed fruit myself, sounds like this would be the way for me to have them.

    Thanks for providing the links.

    :)
    ButterYum

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  10. Hmmm maybe they would have been better as a topping?

    I love the sound of the almond infused cake though...almond flavored anything makes me quite content.

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  11. Well, I'm thinking about NOT visiting your blog again..I'm on a diet!! Just kidding, it looks delicious! Happy Pink Saturday! ESther XX

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  12. I will make a note of this recipe and try it with fresh cherries. It sounds delicious to me. Diane

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  13. How I love cherries in anything... lovely dessert!! Your pictures are always so brilliant! How is it you stay so slender with all these lovely rich desserts!

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  14. There's enough goodness going on that I don't think I'd miss the cherries either. I have the same problem with sinking fruit, even dusting them with flour as you did.

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  15. Looks good and the kind of cake we really like. And I do happen to have a package (or perhaps two) of glaceed cherries in the larder --

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  16. This sounds perfect for an afternoon tea. I have fresh cherries picked from a friends tree and wonder if they work in this recipe. Great post as always :)

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  17. So pretty and delicious! Would love it with some tea.

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  18. Great job on the cake!! I love the combination of almonds and cherries.

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  19. Mary...I just love your enthusiastic approach towards trying recipes.
    I, however adore how candid you are about the results ;o)
    I'm not a fan of glaceed cherries either. I would have probably concluded the same. Oh well...at least you gave it a go!
    The photo, however does look pretty appetizing ;)
    Have a great Sunday,
    Claudia

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  20. I love this kind of dessert!
    Cheers,

    Katy

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  21. My parents are big coffee cake fans. I know they would enjoy this. Of course, I know, I would too.

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  22. Mary,
    The torte sounds wonderful but I so in love with the Russian dressing. I love iceberg lettuce again, too.

    have a great week!

    Carol

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  23. As everyone has already said...this looks delicious. Almonds and cherries pair together so well, and I would love a slice of this with my cup of coffee this morning. Thank you for sharing!

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  24. What a lovely looking cake! I always have problems with fruit sinking no matter what I try but I actually don't mind it, I think it adds a beautiful contrast :o)

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  25. Yumm. Cherries and almond. Can't go wrong there. And it looks delicious.

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  26. Even with the 'disappearing' cherries this still looks quite delicious! Soft and buttery. I just love almonds and cherries together!

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  27. I love all the almonds in this - t looks addicting!

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  28. I do like almonds so I'm sure I would enjoy a nice slice of this cake with my coffee. I saw fresh cherries in the market yesterday, a sure sign that summer is here.

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  29. I love both almond and cherries Mary. Lovely cake, it looks so moist and rich!
    Have a nice sunday
    Cheers

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  30. This is one of my favourite type of cakes.
    Yours looks really delicious.
    Awesome photo too ♥

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  31. Sounds interesting. And it looks delicious.

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  32. Tempting slice of torte, looks awesome..

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  33. very yummy and delectable torte...

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  34. What a beautiful dessert! It would be lovely with a cup of tea.

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  35. What a pretty dessert! This is how sweet summer cherries are meant to be used.

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  36. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion about this torte. :)

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  37. Olá;
    Hummmmm que delícia!
    Perfeita a receita!
    A foto é muito bonita!
    Beautiful! Very good!
    Beijo!

    Maria Paula-BRASIL-

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  38. Oh this looks so good...I love cherries!

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  39. This looks wonderful. I have never used glace cherries. But this cake sounds excellent - with a big mug of tea!

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  40. Looks delicious. Whenever I make my pound cakes, etc. I add the fruit or nuts to the sifted flour mixture. That way they don't sink to the bottom. If you get a chance I am having a giveaway starting June 16th so please stop by. Thanks so much.
    http://sweetkatskitchen.blogspot.com/

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  41. What a lovey torte! Cherries are so wonderful with almonds.

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  42. I really love this kind of cake, simple, not too sweet yet a zing in just the right topping or a handful of fruit. I'm not a glacé fruit kinda girl but I'd love to make this with summer's best fresh cherries which are just making their appearance. Wonderful recipe, Mary!

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  43. wow, that looks soooo good. I wish I could make just one slice like your picture because I don't think I could stop at one bite if I made this. :)

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