Cherry Almond Breakfast Cake

I recently found a recipe for buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake on Pinterest.  Anything with blueberries always catches my eye, and this recipe looked delicious.  I made it for breakfast the other day and boy was it tasty!  Perfectly moist and loaded with sweet blueberries, it won the spot for the favorite meal of the week for everyone in this house.  Not an easy feat.

I needed a breakfast item for a family breakfast on the 4th of July, and thought I would make this cake, but I didn’t have any blueberries, and I knew there would be other dishes with blueberries as well.  Jared suggested cherries, and I thought, “What the heck.  Why not?!?”  As I was putting things together, I decided a little bit of almond extract and a few ground up almonds would add a nice touch.  The result?  DELICIOUS!  Jared thought it was way better than the blueberry version – and this man looooves his blueberries.  The cherries were tasty, but I think the almond flavor is what created the home run taste.

I’m not a food blogger, but I thought I’d throw this one up (mostly because I’m so proud of myself for coming up with my own variation).



Cherry Almond Breakfast Cake (adapted from Alexandra’s Kitchen)

3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
1/4 cup almonds, pulsed in blender until the consistency of nutty flour
3/4 cup buttermilk  

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the cherries with 1/2 cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the cherries and almonds.

4. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.