Cherry Almond Breakfast Cake

One of my favorite purchases in months was $3.99, and I found it at a huge restaurant supply shop in the Inner Richmond. It kind of makes my kitchen look like a murder scene, but it’s totally worth it.

Never again will I repeatedly almost cut myself while bludgeoning cherries with a paring knife in an attempt to remove their pits!

I’m really not sure what I’m going to do with myself when cherry season is over. I’m actually kind of shocked I managed to restrain myself enough to have a few to bake with, because normally cherries don’t even last 24 hours around here. Anyway, if you find yourself with uneaten cherries and a desire to bake, this is a pretty excellent choice. I happily ate it for breakfast and snack for a few days and am ready to play around with other fruits (the original recipe was made with blueberries).

I’ve continued my pursuits of domestic arts this week – currently laundry is hanging on a rack in the living room, I made crepes for dinner last night, and I made this hat and booties yesterday for Mike’s boss, who’s having a baby boy in about a month.

I may be starting to realize that having summer off is not such a bad thing after all! The gym is empty when I go around 1:30 PM, I can grocery shop any time I want, I can hit up the mid-week farmers market (well, I could, but I haven’t yet… it’s on the list. And it’s also on Thursday mornings which means I just missed it yet again. Oh well.)

Recipe:
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates via Eat Live Run)

streusel topping
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into small chunks

cake
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
3/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plain yogurt
2 cups pitted and quartered fresh cherries

To make the streusel: Combine all ingredients except almonds and butter in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or rub between your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the toasted almonds and mix well.

To make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 13 x 9″ baking pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts

Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the yogurt, mixing gently after each addition. Fold in the cherries.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and top with streusel. Bake for about 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before cutting into squares.