The valley is peppered with cherry orchards in full blossom. This year all the trees have flowered together which makes for a spectacular display.
There is great variation in the way the cherry trees are pruned which in turn determines the density of the blossom as well as the harvest. The air is sweet with pollen and it is only six weeks to the cherry harvest!
I am starting researching new recipes for the summer, and today tried this cherry cake recipe from Sweeter Off the Vine by Yossy Arefi.
Cherry Streusel Cake
Can be made with fresh or frozen cherries
Streusel
35g flour
2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or cardamom
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
Cake
210g flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
150g granulated sugar
grated zest of 2 large lemons
125ml neutral vegetable oil
3 large eggs
225g plain whole milk yogurt
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
210g pitted cherries, sweet or sour (fresh or frozen)
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Butter a 9-inch (23cm) loaf pan, dust with flour, and tap out any excess.
2. Make the streusel by mixing the 35g flour, oats, brown sugar, poppy seeds, cinnamon or cardamom and salt in a small bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to break the butter into small pieces, until the streusel is in small bits. Set aside.
3. To make the cake, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.
4. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together very well with your fingers, encouraging the lemon oil to saturate the sugar. Whisk in the oil, eggs, yogurt and lemon juice. Add the flour mixture all at once, stirring with a rubber spatula until it’s almost completely incorporated. Fold in half of the cherries and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Dot the remaining cherries over the top and sprinkle with streusel. Bake the cake until golden
on top and it feels set in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes. (You can insert a toothpick in the center to check for doneness as well. When it comes out clean of crumbs, the cake is done.)
6. Let the cake cool on a wire rack. When cool, run a knife along the outside of the cake to help it release from the pan and tip the cake out of the pan.
Storage: The cake will keep for up to three days at room temperature, if well wrapped. You can freeze it for up to two months.
I had to bake mine for 90 minutes and it didn't rise as well as it should have. The frozen cherries probably made for a denser cake, but with a delicious, subtle lemony flavour.
