Cherry Almond Pound Cake
Cherry and almond are the perfect combination in this incredibly moist, flavorful cherry almond pound cake recipe!
This tender almond pound cake with swirls of cherry is a new favorite at our house. The flavor is rich without being heavy, and we love the fine crumb, and melt-in-your-mouth texture.
It is based on our favorite whipping cream pound cake recipe, but the almond and cherry bring it to another level!
Table of Contents
How to Make Almond Cherry Pound Cake
You can find the full, printable recipe card for this Almond Cherry Pound Cake further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps!
- Prepare the Pan: Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- Flour Mixture: In a separate bowl whisk the cake flour, salt, and baking powder to combine. Set aside for later.
- Butter & Sugar: Cream the butter with the paddle attachment in your mixer, gradually add the sugar and mix until lighten in color and fluffy 4-5 minutes.
- Eggs: Add the room temperature eggs one at a time blending after each until the yellow of the yolk is blended.
- Whipping Cream & Extract: Add the almond extract to the cup of whipping cream.
- Add Dry & Wet Ingredients Alternately: With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the whipping cream. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients three times and the whipping cream twice. After the last addition, mix just until blended.
- Cherry Cake Batter: Scoop one cup of the batter into a small bowl. Combine the ⅓ cup of Cherry preserves/jam, cherry flavoring, and red coloring gel (optional- add to reach desired color). Stir until uniform in color.
- Fill the Pan & Swirl: Alternate layers of almond cake batter and cherry cake batter into the prepared tube pan or bundt pan. I did three layers of almond batter with two layers of cherry batter in between. (Alter however you like). Run a knife through the batter 2-3 times to help with the swirling.
- Time to Bake! Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Baking times can vary and so peek in as it approaches the 1 hour mark. If the top of the cake begins to get too dark, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.
- This recipe makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
- Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto serving plate.
Decorating the Pound Cake
One of the best things about decorating a pound cake or bundt cake is that decorating couldn't be simpler. We've finished pound cakes with a dusting of powdered sugar, buttercream stenciling around the sides, fresh flowers, or fresh fruit.
For today's cake, we went with a simple almond glaze topped with fresh cherries. I love the bright cherries against the white glaze- it looks so cheerful and summery!
Almond Glaze
The almond glaze is as easy as it gets- a combination of powdered sugar, a bit of milk, pinch of salt, and almond extract. You can adjust the extract to your liking as well as the amount of sugar or milk to achieve the consistency that you are looking for.
We use variations of this glaze all the time- I love a pretty drip! To apply the glaze, I spooned it into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away. This will give you the most control.
Such a simple, pretty cake!
Can this Cherry Almond Pound Cake be Frozen?
Yes, just as with so many our cake recipes from our classic pound cake recipe to sour cream pound cake, pineapple pound cake and more, this recipe freezes perfectly.
When preparing to freeze a pound cake, we flip the cake onto a foil-wrapped cake board (for support), wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and follow with aluminum foil. Into the freezer it goes!
If you are freezing a freshly baked cake, go ahead and wrap & freeze it while it is still a bit warm.
Thawing the Cake: We like to move the wrapped cake from the freezer to the refrigerator the day before we need it, to allow plenty of time to thaw.
The next morning, move to the kitchen counter, and unwrap after 30-45 minutes. Store in an airtightl container or under a cake dome as usual.
Freezing Leftover Cake
If you find yourself with leftover pound cake, you can still follow the steps above!
However, you may also like to freeze the slices individually so that you can grab a quick slice of cake whenever you need a little something to go with your coffee or tea.
Frozen cakes will taste fresh when wrapped properly for up to three months! Don't forget to label and date your wrapped cakes before placing in the freezer ;0)
Enjoy the Recipe!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Keep this recipe in mind as a birthday cake recipe, a cake for summer gatherings and potlucks, or anytime you are craving something delicious! We think you'll love it. We just love the pretty slices too!
You can really see the fine crumb in this closeup- this is such a soft, tender cake- it's what we love most about whipping cream pound cakes!
More Cherry and Almond Cakes to Try
If you love cherry cakes and almond cakes, you are in luck! We have several.
Some of our most popular are our layered Cherry Almond Cake, Cherry Cake from Cake Mix, Almond Cake from Scratch, and Almond Coconut Cake.
Cherry Almond Pound Cake
In this dessert, ultra moist almond pound cake is swirled with cherry for a flavor combination you are guaranteed to love!
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (339 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (600 g) sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature (place in a bowl of warm water to speed up the process if needed)
- 3 cups (342 g) cake flour, (not self-rising) *See Notes for Substitution
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (232 g) heavy whipping cream (do not whip)
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) almond extract
For the Cherry Swirls
- ⅓ cup (90g) Cherry Jam/Preserves
- ¾ teaspoon (3g) Cherry Flavoring (We used Watkins brand) or a teaspoon Cherry Jell-O Powder (We used preserves+ Watkins Cherry Extract)
- 1 cup of reserved cake batter
- *Red Coloring Gel- Optional- to reach desired shade of red.
For the Easy Almond Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 Tablespoon Milk (adjust amount as needed for desired consistency)
- ½ Teaspoon Almond Extract (Adjust amount to your liking)
- pinch of salt
- *Fresh Cherries for Garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the Cake
- Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- In a separate bowl whisk the cake flour, salt, and baking powder to combine. Set aside for later.
- Cream the butter with the paddle attachment in your mixer, gradually add the sugar and mix until lightened in color and fluffy 4-5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time blending after each until the yellow of the yolk is blended.
- Add the almond extract to the cup of whipping cream.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the whipping cream. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients three times and the whipping cream twice. After the last addition, mix just until blended.
- Scoop one cup of the batter into a small bowl. Combine the ⅓ cup of Cherry preserves/jam, cherry extract, and red coloring gel (optional- add to reach desired color). Stir until uniform in color.
- Alternate layers of almond batter and cherry batter into the prepared tube pan or bundt pan. I did three layers of almond batter with two layers of cherry batter in between. (Alter however you like). Run a knife through the batter 2-3 times to help with the swirling.
- Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Baking times can vary and so peek in as it approaches the 1 hour mark. If the top of the cake begins to get too dark, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.
- This makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
- Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto serving plate.
For the Almond Glaze
- Combine sugar, milk, almond extract, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Add additional milk a few drops at a time if needed to reach desired consistency.
- Drizzle over the pound cake. (I spooned mine into a piping bag with the tip snipped away for more control- you could do the same with a ziplock bag.)
- For a pop of color, garnish with cherries.
Notes
Substitution for Cake Flour: If you have no cake flour, here is a substitution: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.
Yummy! :-) Looks impressive too!