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I’m all about bundt cakes for effortless summer entertaining, and this cherry swirl bundt cake delivers! Beautifully golden with a sweet cherry swirl, a simple vanilla glaze turns this summer bundt cake into a showstopper for any occasion.
The fresh cherry sauce comes together in just a few minutes over the heat, and if you find yourself with an abundance of cherries, I highly recommend a double batch!
This delicious sauce is one of the finest ways to enjoy cherry season, and I love serving this cake with scoops of vanilla ice cream and an extra drizzle of cherry sauce for a true summer delight.
Bundt Cake Tips
- Make the cherry sauce up to 2 days in advance. Once the sauce has cooled to room temperature, cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Bring all of your cake ingredients to room temperature before beginning. When your butter, eggs, egg yolk, and buttermilk are all at room temperature, they mix together uniformly.
- To create the swirl, spoon half of the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan. Smooth the batter with an offset spatula and tap the pan sharply to reduce air bubbles. Top with spoonfuls of cherry sauce and use a toothpick to very gently swirl the sauce into the batter. Spoon the remaining cake batter evenly over the sauce, carefully smoothing with an offset spatula. Tap the pan sharply again to reduce air bubbles.
- Bake cake until golden and the top springs back to the touch. A tester inserted in the center should come out with a few crumbs attached. Your baking time may vary depending on the shape of your bundt pan, so start testing for doneness after 40 minutes.
- This bundt cake can be made one day in advance. Let cool completely and store at room temperature overnight. Add the glaze 1 hour before serving.
Cherry Swirl Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 46 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 16 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Beautifully golden with a sweet cherry swirl, a simple vanilla glaze turns this cherry swirl bundt cake into a showstopper for any summer occasion.
Ingredients
Cherry Sauce
- 2 cups fresh Bing cherries, pitted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 Tbsp water
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 1/3 cups sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
Glaze
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- For the cherry sauce, combine cherries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, almond extract, and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until cherries begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes Pour into a glass bowl and let cool to room temperature. Chill until ready to use.
- For the cake, preheat oven to 350°F and butter and flour a 10-cup bundt pan. 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 pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add eggs and egg yolk one at a time. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk (begin and end with flour mixture), just until incorporated.
- Spoon half of the batter into prepared bundt pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Tap pan sharply to reduce air bubbles. Top batter with 1/2 cup cherry sauce, dropping by spoonfuls over the batter. Use a toothpick to very gently swirl the sauce into the batter. Spoon remaining batter evenly over the sauce, and carefully smooth with an offset spatula. Tap pan sharply again to reduce air bubbles.
- Bake for 46 to 50 minutes, until cake is golden, springs back to the touch, and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; carefully invert onto rack and cool completely.
- For the glaze, whisk together melted butter, salt, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and let set before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Baking powder: Use an aluminum-free baking powder to keep your cake from turning blue.
Cherry sauce: 1/2 cherry preserves may also be substituted for the cherry sauce.
More cherry recipes you’ll love:
Cherry Almond Galette
Brown Butter Cherry Coffee Cake
Baked Cherry Doughnuts
Quick question so I can get busy making deliciousness with your recipes! I see listed in more than one of your cakes the use of low-fat buttermilk. Can I use full fat buttermilk? And, if making a substitute with milk and vinegar, do I need to use low-fat regular milk or can I use whole milk? Thank you so much! 🙂
Hi Chey, yes you can use full fat buttermilk, and you can also make the buttermilk substitute with whole milk. Happy baking! 🙂
Can I substitute sour cream for buttermilk?
Hi Maureen, in this case sour cream would make the batter very dense and it would be difficult to incorporate the dry ingredients. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own – add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup room temperature milk and stir to combine. Let stand for 10 minutes before using. Hope that helps!