Cherry Almond Pound Cake | May Day Gift

 

I made this Cherry Almond Pound Cake as part of a "May Day" Cherry themed Thank You gift for our neighbor.  Pound cakes seem to be my new favorite thing - remember the Lemon Butter Pound Cake I made a couple of weeks ago?  

This flavor combination of Cherry and Almond was inspired by our Spring trip to Washington DC's Cherry Blossom Festival a couple of years ago.  Sprinkles in Georgetown had a Cherry cupcake in honor of the festival.  I came home and immediately made my own version.  I thought the combination would be great with the cherry branches I'd be giving as a gift, but cupcakes are hard to package (and hang on a door...), so I opted for this pound cake instead that is easily wrapped in parchment.  For details on how I packaged the gift, visit this link.


Cherry Almond Pound Cake

makes 1 medium loaf size cake

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup of dried cherries

.......

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of almond extract

1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Cream together butter and sugar for 3 minutes.  Add eggs.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  In another separate bowl, combine milk and extract.  Add half of the wet ingredients to the butter sugar mixture, mix for 5 seconds, then add half of the dry and mix for 5 seconds.  Repeat with second half, ending with dry ingredients.  Fold in dried cherries.  Pour batter into loaf pan - I like to line mine with parchment paper.  Bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

For glaze, mix together powdered sugar, milk and almond extract until smooth.  Pour over slightly warm cake.

Again, for details on how I packaged the May Day gift, visit this link.