Cake with cherries

Summer fruit cakes. I don't make many. I think Summer delicate fruit tastes better when not cooked or baked. And another thing is that we don't have time to get tired of it. It - blended with cream and sugar. It seems that this is all I do this time of the year. Stand by the sink, hull the strawberries, add cream, add sugar, blend, serve and wash. 

Cherries are a little different though. Everybody is on their own. I'm still being asked if they are washed or not. And they are not my favorite Summer thing...too hard to find one that is exactly right: sweet, hard, fresh...without overpaying for the research. 

So, my idea was just to use the cherries for a touch of color to make a pretty cake. It worked! Cherries impressed me this time. They baked beautifully into a fantastic tasting cake. Buttery, sweet, rich but delicate with a nice crust around and a fruity bite inside.

So what that the cake doesn't tastes like cherries and the cherries don't taste like...cherries. My eyes were saying something else.

Recipe adapted from Giallo Zafferano
time: 20 min preparation + 1 hr baking

ingredients

• 380 g (13 oz) cherries
• 180 g (1 1/2 stick) butter room temperature
• 180 g (5/6 cups) sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200 g (1 1/3 cup) flour
• 50 g (6 Tablespoons) potato starch
• 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160C/325F. Butter (extra butter) and line a 30/10/7cm (12/4/3 inch) loaf form with parchment paper. You'll need to cut 2 pieces (measure them about 2 inches/5cm larger than the form), one for long sides and bottom, the other for short sides and bottom.
2. Wash cherries. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Cut them in half, remove pits. Cover them lightly with flour (extra flour). Shake off the excess of flour.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder and salt.
4. In a bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat butter with sugar, on medium/high speed, till fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at the time, and vanilla. Change attachment to paddle. Sift in flour mixture. Mix it in. 
5. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared form. Arrange half of cherries on top. Spoon the rest of batter on top of cherries and arrange the rest of cherries on top. You don't need press the batter nor cherries. Place the form into the hot oven for 1 hour. Take it out of the oven. Let it cool in the form for 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the form for further cooling on a cooling rack. Excellent with coffee!