We do vary the fruit on top, so we use red plums or yellow plums or raspberries, but really the cherries are the best version. The contrast between the cherries and the green pistachios, and the addition of mahleb to the cake batter, together create something electric.
Ingredients
Makes a 9 in/24cm diameter ring cake
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9 in/24cm diameter ring cake tin with butter.
Step 2
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour over the melted butter and mix in the eggs. Spoon the batter into the pre-greased tin and smooth down.
Step 3
Remove the pits from the cherries—you can do this with a cherry pitter or by just pulling them apart and popping the pits out with your fingers. I like to do this over the cake tin, so that any juice drips onto the cake and adds color. Drop the pitted cherries onto the batter and sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp/20g of sugar and the roughly chopped pistachios. Bake in the center of the oven for 25–30 minutes, then turn the cake around and bake for a further 8–10 minutes, until the cake between the cherries goes all golden.
Step 4
Allow the cake to cool in the tin, as it needs time to settle, then gently remove by running a knife around the edges. Covered well, it will keep in the fridge for up to a week (not much chance of that happening), but for the best flavor, allow it to return to room temperature before eating.
Leave a Review
Reviews (6)
Back to TopIt tasted fine but was really unattractive. I used frozen sweet cherries. The whole top of the cake looked black from cherries and cherry juice. I dusted the whole thing with icing sugar to make it look a little better. IF I were to do this again, I would save the pistachios and sprinkle them on after baking so that there is more green.
Anonymous
Ottawa, Canada
5/9/2021
This "cake" was certainly easy, and the list of ingredients was appealing. But I didn't like the resulting product. The cherries were large and very firm after baking. If I was going to make this again, I would at least halve the cherries into smaller pieces and saute them on the stove before adding to the top of the cake.
Anonymous
Santa Fe
7/10/2020
This was silly good. Can’t wait to see fresh cherries appear at the market. I’ll be making this again (and again.)
leann123
San Francisco Bay Area
4/10/2019
This was delicious!! I defrosted frozen cherries and drizzled some of the juices over the cake. Did not have mahleb so I substituted with 1 tsp of almond extract and 1/4 tsp of cherry juice. Had some friends over for a taste and was a big hit!
sgrogan
Boston
2/19/2018
Baked just as instructed and it's outstanding!
nupla
Oakland, CA
7/26/2016
Made it to recipe, and it's delicious. Very rich and moist, it's great for breakfast, too. This recipe definitely makes the roster...
ebrooks219
Chicagoland, IN
8/1/2015
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