Sour Cream Cherry Coffee Cake

There are a million blueberry cake/muffin/buckle recipes out there, however, when you search for a cherry "cake", they are hard to come by.

I guess cherries are reserved for pie?

I love cherries (one of the very few fruits I actually like) when in season in June.

I had some local cherries and decided to create my own recipe for a sour cream cherry coffee cake, since no one out there had any better ideas.

You all know me by now, I despise pitting and stemming cherries.
My kitchen and apron look like a blood bath and the clean up is the pits (no pun intended!).

I'm calling this cake a "coffee cake", meaning:
Any cake you eat midday with a cup of coffee (my favorite time to eat cake); or with someone who stops in to have a cup of coffee at your house, chat, and have a piece of cake.

These days, most people have full time jobs, so have no time for cake and coffee in the mid-afternoon.
What a shame.

Stacey's Cherry Sour Cream Coffee Cake:

1 1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups of fresh cherries, stems and pits removed
6 tbsp melted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
8 oz. (1 cup) sour cream or creme fraiche
1/4 tsp almond extract
sliced almonds for top
2 tbsp turbinado (raw) sugar for top

Butter and flour an 8" springform pan.

Mix together the first 3 ingredients and add in the cherries (this way they won't all sink to the bottom).

In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter w/ the sugar and egg until pale and golden.
Mix in the sour cream and extract.

Add the flour in gradually to the butter/sugar mixture. Incorporate to make a nice smooth batter (don't over mix and try to keep the cherries whole).

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle sliced almonds on top.
Sprinkle the 2 tbsp of turbinado sugar on top.

Bake in a 350F oven for 45-50 minutes. The raw sugar will form a nice crust.

Let cake completely cool in the pan.

When ready to serve, unmold the sides of the pan and serve w/ ice cream, or not!

Come on over for a cup of coffee, anytime.

Very yummy.

(PS Thanks to my friend Sarah for being my professional photographer).