Description
Bursting with juicy cherries and piled high with golden crumb topping, this easy cherry crumb cake is soft and buttery! Recipe makes one 9-inch crumb cake.
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/8 tsp pure almond extract
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup cherry preserves
- 12 oz (340 g) fresh cherries, pitted and halved
Glaze
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan evenly with softened butter. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.
- Make crumb topping: Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl; add melted butter and almond extract, and toss mixture with a fork until crumbly. Chill topping in the freezer until needed.
- Make cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in almond and vanilla extracts. Reduce speed to low and add eggs and egg yolk one at a time. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk, just until incorporated (begin and end with flour mixture).
- Scrape batter into prepared baking pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Tap pan sharply to remove air bubbles. Top the batter with spoonfuls of cherry preserves and gently swirl in slightly with a toothpick or wooden skewer. Top with cherries, pressing slightly into batter. Sprinkle with crumb topping.
- Bake crumb cake for 65 to 70 minutes, until edges are golden, cake springs back to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes before removing sides from pan; let cool completely.
- Make glaze: Whisk together melted butter, salt, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over crumb cake and let set before serving.
- Store crumb cake at room temperature overnight, or wrap well and refrigerate. Reheat crumb cake in a warm oven (300°F) before serving.
Notes
Baking powder: To keep the cake batter from turning blue, use an aluminum-free baking powder.
Cherries: Fresh cherries are ideal and recommended. You can also use frozen pitted cherries (no need to thaw, just add straight from the freezer). Frozen cherries may extend the baking time by approximately 5-10 minutes due to the extra moisture.