Sour Cherry Coffee Cake


How come I never had a sour cherry before?
Because I have lived a sheltered life here in NJ, not realizing that sour cherries are grown right here!

The last 2 weeks I have seen these smaller cherries at the market, and was told they have a short season. What doesn't grow here in the Garden State?
(answer: avocados).

Get these little cuties while they last.
They are tarter than regular cherries, juicier and I love them.


Husband liked them better baked in the cake, said they were too bitter for his taste, but not mine.
I always choose bitter over sweet (except for people).

Here is Martha's delicious sour cherry coffee cake recipe.......evidently, sour cherries are very popular in Hungary and there are a ton of recipes for Hungarian sour cherry cakes.

The original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I had sour cream, and I loved the results.

This was a beautiful cake.


Martha's Sour Cherry Coffee Cake (adapted from Lottie & Doof):

For the topping:

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for dish
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dish
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 cups pitted sour cherries

Make the topping and incorporate all the butter to make a sort of paste. Set aside.

Mix the cake ingredients (you know how, wet together, then add in the dry ingredients to make a batter).
Add in half the cherries (don't worry if they sink).

Pour batter into a well buttered and floured 8 1/2" springform pan.


Dot the top of the batter w/ the rest of the pitted sour cherries.


Clump the topping over the cherries and pat down with a spatula, you want to have a nice crusty streusel topping.


Bake in a 350F oven for 45-50 minutes.
Let rest 10 minutes, then unmold the sides of the cake pan and transfer to a cooling rack.

You do not need to put any icing on the streusel, but I wanted it to look better, so I did (ignore me).

Best served w/ whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.


Delicious!!!!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm keeping my eye peeled for local Jersey sour cherries.

Eating breakfast reading your post - and I just ate the best fresh fig of the summer.

It's all down hill now...
Bebe said…
We don’t see sour cherries here but we do see Morello cherries in light syrup at Trader Joe’s, something they’ve carried for a long time. The 24.7 oz. jar on my pantry shelf says it is from Germany.

Drained, these should work in this cake, don’t you think?

Love tart cherries. Love regular Bing cherries. Love cherries.

Thank you!
Unknown said…
I just got some at our local farmer's market. Pitting them gave me a new appreciation for the work my mom did, pitting and freezing all the sour cherries from their cherry tree, so we could have her fantastic cherry pies all year! We had her granddaughters convinced that finding a stray pit in your pie meant good luck!
Alicia said…
I just planted a sour cherry tree this spring ,you can do more with the sour cherries than sweet.
Denise said…
I have made this cherry cake many times. Everyone LOVES this cake!
Ciao Chow Linda said…
This looks like a really great cake, but I'm not sure I have the patience to pit all those cherries.