Homemade Fresh Cherry Cake
This fast and easy Cherry Cake is deliciously moist, made with yogurt and bursting with fresh cherries. Serve it plain or with a dollop of whipped cream and a chocolate dipped cherry!
When we think of summer food what do we think of? BBQs, Ice Cream and of course all the amazing fresh fruit. From Peaches, to Watermelon to Cantaloupe to yup, one of my favourites Cherries.
So needless to say I had to make a cake with Cherries. When it comes to cherries I adore fresh cherries not candied cherries or Maraschino Cherries. Nope fresh all the way. The only thing was pitting them seemed to be a big project in my opinion! But surprise surprise it wasn’t.
How to Pit Fresh Cherries
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, see my privacy and disclosure policy.
- After a lot of searching to see the best way to pit a cherry,
- from a chop stick to an actual Cherry Pitter to what I used.
- One of my newly acquired Stainless Steel Straws .
- Because not only are they great for the environment but they make the best cherry pitters!
- Just remove the stem, stick the straw through the top and gently push to remove the pit. Worked every time!
I remember back in Toronto when my sister had the most amazing Cherry Tree! The tree was full of cherries every year! So of course when I moved to Italy I told my husband we had to have a Cherry Tree, unfortunately I think that tree has been listening to our Lemon Tree.
The thing is huge but if we get 3 cherries we are lucky! Although the blossoms are absolutely gorgeous the beginning of Spring, so that kind of makes up for it.
This Cherry Cake Recipe is very easy, full of cherries and deliciously moist. It’s perfect on its own, with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning for breakfast (Italian’s love a slice of a simple cake in the morning) or snack in the afternoon.
How to Make a Cherry Cake
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a the bowl of your stand up mixer on medium speed beat the eggs and sugar and until light and fluffy.
Then add the zest and vanilla and beat. Then slowly add the vegetable oil and continue beating. Add the yogurt and milk and beat on low speed to combine, add the flour a third at a time, beating on low and scraping the bowl after each addition just until smooth.
Fold half the pitted cherries into the batter, then pour into the prepared cake pan, top with remaining cherries, be sure to press down lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar before baking. Bake until golden and done, test with a toothpick for doneness.
Recipe Tip
If you don’t like using vegetable oil then you can substitute with coconut oil, light olive oil or even melted butter.
How to Store a baked Cherry Cake
The Cherry cake may be kept at room temperature for a day if the area is not too warm, after that the cake should be covered with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to a week.
Can I freeze a Baked Cherry Cake?
The cake can also be frozen be sure to wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap and place in an airtight container or freezer bag. The cake should keep up to 4 – 6 months.
How to keep Cherries from sinking in the batter
Toss the cherries with a couple of teaspoons of all purpose flour and mix to coat. Then add the cherries to the batter and continue with the recipe. If using frozen cherries, don’t thaw them but lightly toss them in flour, the flour will help absorb some of the liquid.
More Summer Fruit Desserts
- Homemade Fruit Pizza
- Fresh Fruit Tart with Italian Cream Filling
- Easy Fresh Strawberry Mousse
- Homemade Apricot Jam Crumb Pie
However you serve this Cherry Cake with a dollop of whipped cream and a chocolate dipped cherry or with just a dusting of Powder Sugar I hope you enjoy it. Enjoy!
Homemade Fresh Cherry Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cherries pitted
- 1¼ cups + 2 tablespoons flour (172 grams total, if you double the recipe then double this amount)
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (divided)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (I use corn or sunflower oil)
- ½ cup regular yogurt (room temperature)
- ¼ cup milk (room temperature)
TOPPING
- 1-2 cups cream heavy, whole, or whipping cream with at least 30% fat content whipped
- 10-12 cherries (whole)
- 2-3 ounces chocolate (melted)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C), grease and flour an 8 inch/ 20 cm cake pan (springform pan is the best if you have it).
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
- In a large bowl beat on medium speed the egg, yolk and ½ cup + 3 tablespoons sugar until light and fluffy, (approximately 2-3 minutes), add the zest and vanilla beat for one minute, then slowly add the oil and continue beating. Add the yogurt and milk and beat on low speed to combine, add the flour a third at a time, beating on low and scraping the bowl after each addition just until smooth.
- Fold half the pitted cherries* into the batter then pour into the prepared cake pan, top with remaining cherries, press down lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until golden and done. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Let cool 15-20 minutes in the pan then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar, and top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream and chocolate dipped cherries if desired. Enjoy!
* Toss the cherries with a couple of teaspoons of all purpose flour and mix to coat.
Notes
Nutrition
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Updated from June 10, 2018.
Hi
I am in South Australia. Cherry season is in full swing over here with so many orchards close by to where I live
I made your cake this morning to take to a New year day afternoon tea in the park today
What an absolute delight it is. Easy to make with ingredients that I had on hand. Only bit that took a bit of time was putting the fresh cherries but it wasn’t bad.
The cherries were evenly spread through the cake using your method and everyone loved it. As did I
I don’t know how long it would keep, but this one was eaten within the day!
So thank you. It’s a keeper.
Hi Patricia, thanks so much, nothing like cherry season. Happy New Year and tea in the park sounds wonderful.
Looks like a great recipe! I can’t wait to try it. Just wondering, would I be able to replace the yoghurt with sour cream? Also, cherries ate ridiculously expensive here, can I subtitle for jarred cherries?
Hi Cynthia, yes you can substitute with sour cream, and if you use jarred cherries just be sure to drain them well and pat dry with paper towels before adding them. (toss them with a teaspoon or 2 of flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of the cake). Let me know how it goes.
Thanks Rosemary! The recipe was absolutely delicious! I made it for my in laws and they thought I had used fresh cherries! Thank-you for sharing.
Hi Cynthia, thanks so much, so glad your in laws liked it. Take care.
I made this as a treat for my FIL. He and my husband loved it. I enjoyed it but there were too many cherries…lol. I think that the next time I will put in a few less cherries and hope that the cherry boys dont notice. Thanks for this recipe!!
Hi Melissa, thanks so much and I totally understand, my husband and kids love it also, the more fruit the better, I like more cake than fruit. 🙂
This is a wonderful recipe. If anything was lacking it was only due to my own laziness: I used powdered sugar and eyeballed the measurement, and beat the eggs by hand instead of digging out my electric mixer, for which reasons my cake came out a little denser than it should have been and not very sweet, but the latter issue worked out in my favour since my family doesn’t enjoy sugary foods much. I can’t wait to try this again properly. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Gillian, good for you for eyeballing it though 🙂 . Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend.
Hello,
Is you cup measurement 200 ml or 240 ml?
Hi Laxmi, it depends on what you are weighing, one cup of flour is 130 grams 1 cup of water is 240.
Hi there. Can’t wait to make this! Will it work if I substitute buttermilk for the yogurt?
Thanks!
Hi Nicky, yes it should work with buttermilk also. Let me know how it goes.
is it normal that dough is grey? is the nutrition information for the whole cake or per slice (293kcal, 24g sugar etc)?
anyhow, it very easy and delicious:)
Hi Marina, Thanks glad you like it. I don’t why it would be grey, maybe from your cherries. The calorie count is per slice. Happy New Year.
Hi, before I start, would you please let me know if fresh sour cherries are OK in this recipe?
Hi Malou, I used fresh sweet cherries, but if you like sour then sure that would work. Let me know how it goes. Happy New Year.
Great recipe, but, when I make it again, I’ll cut the cherries in half. I used so-called white whole wheat flower and it was great. Might add lemon extract next time.
Thanks Ernie, glad you liked it. Merry Christmas.
Can this be made with frozen cherries?
Hi Anna, yes it can it’s best not to thaw the cherries though. I hope you enjoy it, let me know.
In using the frozen cherries, I was concerned that those little frozen nuggets in the batter would affect the baking. Or will they defrost as I am prepping the cake batter, before it goes in the oven? Do I toss them in flour too? Thanks!
Hi Cathi, as long as you don’t thaw them it should be fine. Yes toss with a little flour this will also help absorb some of the liquid. Let me know how it goes.
Hi Rosemary,
Thank you so much for answering my questions. Your cake turned out delicious. My husband loves cherries and told me that I gave him too small a piece. So that means it was a huge success. I rate this recipe 5 stars & I will make it again. I think I will also try it with chopped apples since cherries are no longer in season.
Marta
Hi Marta, thanks so much, glad you both enjoyed it. Take care. It should be good with apples too. Let me know if you try it.
The best cake I’ve ever tried 🤩
Thanks Sara, so glad you liked it. 🙂
WOW !! How great is this, I just hand pitted a lb. or so of cherries and wondered if I could find a way to
use them, this is great, only thing I need is yogurt. Thanks a bunch, they were not at all sweet and I did not want to waste. Looking forward to making your cake YUM !!!
Thanks Mary, I hope you like it, let me know how it goes.
Used vanilla yogurt! Great results. Recipe a keeper!
Hi Karen, thanks so much, so glad you liked it. Take care.
Hello Rosemay. I want to try your recipe this weekend. It sounds delicious. Do I whisk 1 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour with baking powder & soda, or do I flour the cake pan with these 2 tablespoons of flour?
Marta
Hi Marta, yes you whisk the 1 1/4 + 2 tablespoons of flour with the baking powder and soda (because I usually bake in metric I convert to cups so it usually includes adding tablespoons to the measurement). I hope you enjoy it.