Cherry Pistachio Skillet Cake

I used to bake a lot of loaf cakes, but now I am in the skillet cake phase.

My cast iron baby is seasoned just right (finally).

I have a 12" one for savory dishes, like chicken or meat, and another 10" skillet for just cakes.
I don't want to intermingle the flavors.

We all know by now my hatred of pitting cherries.
I have tried the paperclip trick (lame), the straw trick (a little better), but in the end, I always go back to my cherry pitter from Italy.
It's a messy job, but if you want a cherry dessert, someone's got to do it.

Here, I made a simple batter and added chopped pistachios to the ripe pitted cherries.

Don't be fooled by the lack of curb appeal here, this is a top 10 delicious cake.
So good.

Use as many cherries as you like, there are no rules.

Cherry Pistachio Skillet Cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of almond flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk mixed w/ a tsp of lemon juice)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 pound cherries, pitted
chopped pistachios and turbinado sugar for the top

Preheat oven to 350F and butter a 10" cast iron skillet (or pie plate works too).

Cream together the butter, extract, lemon zest, sugar and egg until nice and light.

Mix in the flour, salt, baking powder and almond flour.

Pour in buttermilk and mix together. You will have a nice, fluffy cake batter.

With a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and dot with the cherries and pistachios, pressing the fruit and nuts into the batter w/ the spatula.

Sprinkle the top w/ the raw sugar and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes (my cake was done in 40 minutes).

The fruit will sink to the bottom, but it's ok, you will be rewarded w/ the cherries when you cut into a slice.

Serve w/ vanilla ice cream.

Oh yum.