Cherry Crumb Cake

I mentioned finding the cinnamon raisin breakfast ring in The Modern Baker book, and after finding that, I got distracted by several other recipes. There are some quick breads I want to try, a raisin coffee cake that looks amazing, and the bakery crumb buns made me stop and look too. Then, I came upon the blueberry crumb cake page. I had already decided to make the breakfast ring, but now this crumb cake looked quite enticing. The logical solution, I realized, was to make both. While the breakfast ring was to be taken to a brunch party and shared, the crumb cake would stay at home for us to devour all by ourselves. As I read through the recipe and the side notes, I noticed a suggestion about using fresh cherries instead of blueberries and that sounded like a very good idea. I brought home some gorgeous, juicy cherries and set about removing the pits. Pitting cherries is a mundane kitchen task that I actually enjoy. It’s almost like popping bubbles on bubble wrap. It’s fun.

The crumb topping was made by combining flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and melted butter. That crumbly mixture was spread over the pitted cherries and set aside. Then, in a stand mixer, softened butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla were mixed. Flour and baking powder were combined and added to mixer in three additions alternating with a combination of egg yolks and milk. This resulting batter was spread in a baking pan and topped with the cherries and crumb topping. It couldn’t have been simpler to prepare. The baking time was about 40 minutes, and it emerged from the oven looking as tempting as the photo in the book.

I’m sure blueberries would also be great in this cake, and plums were another suggested fruit option. However, the fresh cherries were divine, and the crumb topping was in perfect proportion to the tender, buttery cake. I may need to hide this book from myself to prevent a nonstop, baking-marathon frenzy from consuming my every waking hour, but so far I’ve been extremely pleased with each recipe I’ve tried.

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