Gluten-free Cherry Almond Cake

Because life is a bowl of cherries!  Don't ya think?

Cherry season comes and goes quickly, so if I was going to bake something, it was now or never (or at least, until next year).  Recently I came across this Cherry Almond cake on a website I like to visit called The Joy of Baking.  I've always had good luck with recipes I've found there.   I mean, what a great combination - cherries (I keep typing cheeries instead of cherries LOL) and almond flour.  This recipe, of course, is gluten-full, so I thought it would be a good one to convert to gluten-free.

Lucky for me - it worked!  And I do mean luck - cause it doesn't always work (someday I'll start a blog with all of my bloopers).  I made this on a Saturday night, and didn't even taste it until Sunday morning.  Willpower!  Yes!

Besides using a gluten-free flour, I decreased the amount of flour in the recipe and increased the almond flour which is a great way to maintain a moist but tender crumb.  It worked out great, and is perfect with a cup o' java in the morning.  

I especially like the fact that it's not overly sweet; and even though there's not a lot of sugar in the recipe, next time I will replace part of the sugar with Erythritol which should work.  

Gluten-free Cherry Almond Cake (adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 - 1 lb fresh cherries
• 3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix of your choice
• 3/4 cup ground almonds/almond flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
• 3/4 cups sugar or combination of sugar & sugar substitutes
• Confectioners sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (200 C)

Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and butter the bottom and sides.

1. Melt butter and set aside to cool.
2. Rinse, and pit cherries, then split in half and place cut side down on paper towels to remove excess juice.
3. In a bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder and set aside.
4. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes at high speed until thick and pale yellow.
5. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
6. Pour the butter and milk down the side of the mixing bowl, and using a rubber spatula or whisk fold in the melted butter and milk into the egg mixture gently to avoid deflating the eggs.
7. Add the flour in 3 steps, folding it into the mixture each time.
8. Add cherries to the mix and gently fold them in (if you add too much of the juice the cake will change color)
9. Pour the batter into your prepared springform pan and smooth the batter using an offset spatula.
10. Place on center rack of oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool on cooling rack for 15 minutes then remove sides of springform pan and let completely cool before removing bottom of pan and parchment paper.

Dust with confectioners sugar just before serving.  Serve with frozen yogurt or whipped cream or by itself!  This cake seems to taste best if eaten with 2 days.