Cherry Filled Almond Cake

I am super excited about this cake. Not only was I able to utilize some new and oh-so-cool kitchen toys in the making of it, but the recipe turned out to be quite a challenge, and after 4 attempts, I finally got it right! There’s no greater satisfaction than sticking with something that’s not working until you finally are able to master it. This cake is so good, it was totally worth all the frustration.

Camp Blogaway is the gift that keeps on giving. In our swag bags we received these Wilton Tasty-Fill Mini Cake Pan sets, and this Oxo cherry pitter. Can I just say I’m obsessed with both things? Many of you know by now that I’m obsessed with A. things that are mini and B. filled cupcakes (as evidenced HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE to name a few). These mini cake pans really got my creative juices whirling, but the cherry pitter is what really gave me the inspiration for the cake. I love cherries, and as they’re coming into season right about now, I’ve been buying them by the bagful, and eating them straight up. I’ve never really baked with them before because they are such a pain to prep, but this pitter made it a snap! I HIGHLY recommend picking one up if you love cherries like I do.

The original recipe I started with was an amazingly delicious cupcake recipe, but the cake was too moist to hold its shape in the mini cake pans. After several trials as I mentioned, I think I fine tuned it to perfection! Still moist, fluffy and full of almond flavor, but has enough body to hold that cherry filling in place. I think this may be in the running for my favorite cake of all time.

Cherry Filled Almond Cake recipe adapted from Love and Olive Oil 

Cake:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 vanilla bean (seeds only) or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Cherry Filling:
2 cup fresh sweet cherries, pitted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cranberry or pomegranate juice, or water
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Vanilla Almond Buttercream:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 vanilla bean (seeds only) or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour mini cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl whisk together oil, coconut milk, vanilla bean, and almond extract. Add sugar and mix until incorporated. Slowly add dry ingredients to coconut milk mixture. Mix until relatively smooth (batter will be slightly lumpy). Distribute batter evenly between all 4 cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

To make filling, add cherries to medium saucepan along with sugar and juice. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally and slightly mashing some of the whole cherries. Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons cool water with cornstarch in a small dish and set aside. When cherry mixture starts bubbling, add cornstarch mixture and stir until filling is thickened and is no longer milky. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Move to refrigerator and chill until ready to use.

For frosting, cream butter in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture is smooth. Add vanilla bean, almond extract, and food coloring and mix until combined. 

To assemble, fill each of 4 cake centers with cherry filling. Carefully flip the cake tops on top of the bottoms. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set. Frost and decorate.