Yes, here I go with Kuchens again. It’s not my fault that the German word for cake is so fun to say. As a kid I called it “Kugen,” but if you really go for it with the hard “CHH” sound I think you might enjoy it even more. This is a nostalgic recipe for me, something my mom would make for us as a morning coffee cake, passed down from her mother, and now a family favorite across generations. We’re anytime cake people, with absolutely no aversion to baked goods for breakfast, but this could easily be a light dessert instead if that’s more your speed.

Now, the key to this whole thing is the tart canned cherries. It took me some time to find them, but it was worth the search. You may never see me extol the virtues of canned fruit again-I can’t think of a single other instance in which I would recommend it over fresh. In this particular case, though, I won’t use anything else. The light tartness perfectly offsets the sweetness of the cake, and the soft texture means they almost melt into the batter as it cooks, so you get little pops of tart flavor without the chew. I’m sure you could make this with frozen cherries, and it would be perfectly good, but it won’t be quite the cake I remember. No matter what variety you choose, just be sure to drain them well and pat off any excess moisture, or else your cake will have a soggy-cherry-juice bottom layer, and nobody wants that.

Being a family recipe, I fiddled with it very little. I did reduce the sugar, because 3/4 cup is quite enough as it is, and forewent the original lemon extract in favor of additional lemon zest. I’ve also made it smaller, because the two of us could never finish a 9×13. I think I might actually prefer this in an 8″ round pan, for more height, but my 9″ was in better shape, so that’s what I used.

Cherry Kuchen

Recipe by Too Many SpoonsCourse: Breakfast, DessertCuisine: Cake

Servings

8

servings

Cost

15

$

Total time

1

hour 

If you’re not into spending an hour making breakfast, feel free to make this the day/night before-it might be even better after a day on the counter.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour, plus extra for the pan

• 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup sugar, divided

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 2/3 cup whole milk

• 1 egg

• 1/2 tsp almond extract

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp lemon zest

• 1/2 cup canned tart cherries, drained and patted dry

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350, then butter a 9″ round cake pan and coat with a light layer of flour. (Alternatively you can spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Either way, I like to line the bottom with parchment for an extra defense against sticking).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter and milk to the bowl, and beat for 3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg, almond extract, nutmeg, and lemon zest, then beat for 2 minutes. The mixture will look curdled at first, then come back together, then turn pale and smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.
• Drop the cherries over the batter, then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar evenly over top. Bake for 45 minutes, until light golden brown.