Cherry Cake

Cherry Cake is a moist white cake that is a great substitute for traditional Christmas cake.

Aunt Irene always baked multiple Cherry Cakes each Christmas season and distributed them to various family members. I can still remember the first Cherry Cake that we received. It was such a treat.

My Mom had always made a traditional Christmas cake of fruit and nuts, baked early in the season and then wrapped in a cloth that was soaked with brandy. I tried to carry on the tradition, but soon realized that Cherry Cake was the preferred choice for a Christmas cake in our family.

Print recipe

Serves	1 large loaf
Inspiration	Aunt Irene

Ingredients

1 3/4 Cups whole red glace cherries (halved)
3/4 cups whole green glace cherries (halved or elminate the green cherries and use 2 1/2 cups of red cherries)
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp baking powder
1 cup soft butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Large eggs (beaten)

Note

When you are dealing with a pan that does not have a removable bottom, it is necessary to line the pan with waxed paper. This will insure that none of the cake sticks to the pan, and ruin the look of your loaf.

Adding flour to the fruit mixture helps to prevent the fruit from settling to the bottom of the pan.

If your butter is right out of the fridge, place it in the mixing bowl and microwave at 20 % for about a minute and a half, turning after half of the time.

Directions


Line a large loaf pan with wax paper, by cutting the paper to two sizes; vertical and horizontal. Butter the dish before placing the wax paper in, so that it will hold the paper in place. Then grease the layer of wax paper with butter.

Halve the green and red cherries and place in a medium sized bowl. Measure the flour and baking powder and mix together in a small bowl. Add about a quarter cup of this flour mixture to the cherries. Mix it in well and separate any of the cherries that might be stuck together.

With an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and the butter. Add the orange juice and beaten eggs and beat for another minute.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir by hand until well combined.

Mix in the floured cherry mixture and stir well to evenly distribute the fruit. Place the cake batter in the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top.

Bake at 300 deg F for 2 1/2 hours or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place a small oven proof dish half filled with water into the oven while baking, to keep the cake moist over the long baking time.

Completely cool the cake on a rack. Then wrap well in plastic wrap and store in a sealed container in the fridge. This loaf is better after it has aged a few days and will keep well for up to a month.