Sour Cherries Cake

submitted by broder

This is another Romanian recipe that supports my thesis that Romanians are
addicted to sour foods :-) In Romania this is made with fresh sour
cherries, but fresh sour cherries are hard to find in US, even though
more sour cherries than sweet cherries are grown in US. However pitted
sour cherries in light syrup are somewhat easier to find, often imported
from Eastern Europe. (Around the SF Bay Area they are available cheaply
from Trader Joe.) All measurements below are "American." 1 Cup ~= 225 ml
~= 16 Tablespoons. 1in ~= 2.5cm. Check the rec.food.cooking faq for more
help with metric translation. The Cherry Herring liqueur tastes
practically the same as the Romanian "visinata", a home-made sour cherry
liqueur made in huge demijohn (called "damigeana" in Romanian) bottles.
This is a very simple and tasty cake, easiest to make with a food
processor, although a mixer works fine too. Quantities can be halved.
(Increase butter to 3/4 stick if you want to use only one egg for half
recipe) For this quantities I use a 10 x 14 x 2 in lasagna pan, but other
2 in deep pans work fine - adjust quantities. If you make this recipe,
please let me know how it worked for you.
2 24 oz jars of pitted sour cherries in light syrup.
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter (10 Tablespoons)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
pinch salt
2 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons kirsch or brandy
2/3 cup milk
butter and flour for the pan.
2 Tablespoons Cherry Herring liqueur, kirsch, or brandy (optional)
Sweetened whipped cream (optional)


Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and lightly flour the pan. Strain the
cherries, and check them for pit fragments. (Warn your guests in any
case!) Save the syrup. Spread the cherries in the pan in two disorganised
layers with many holes. In a food processor or mixer cream the butter
with the sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat again. Add the milk, vanilla, and kirsch, and beat until smooth.
Pour the batter evenly over the cherries, trying to fill well all the
spaces. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35 min, or until a cake tester
comes out clean. Cool in the pan. Cut it into 3-inch squares or so, and
take it with a spatula from the pan. The cake keeps well in a covered box,
in the fridge, for a few days. Bring back to room temp before serving. 5.
Optional: Over low heat, reduce the cherries syrup (from step 2) to about
1/3 its volume, that is to about 1 cup. Let it cool. Optionally add to it
a few tablespoons Cherry Herring liqueur, kirsch, or brandy. When the cake
has cooled, but before you cut it, sprinkle the syrup evenly over the
cake. Wait another half hour before cutting the cake. This results in a
moister and tastier cake, but it keeps less well. Optional: serve with
sweetened whipped cream on top.


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