Thursday, July 11, 2013

Hungarian Cherry Tea Cake

Had I known that fresh cherries in S. Florida cost $2.99 pr. pound (maybe just for short time)...instead of $6.99 pr. pound, I would have made this amazing Hungarian Cherry Tea Cake with it. Better yet, I got a brilliant idea and used the fabulous Amarena Fabbri Cherries  that are imported from Italy.

Hungarian Cherry Tea Cake
adapted from: Sheila Lukins
All Around the World Cookbook

Recipe doubled; is my only adaptation
(except for the butter, which remains the same amount)

8 tablespoons (1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature)
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
6 large eggs, separated
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups pitted sweet dark cherries, fresh, or well-drained jarred

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8 1/2 inch spring form  cake pan. Line the bottom with a  round of waxed paper and butter the paper.

Cream the butter and the 1 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Add the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour and mix well.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt, until firm, but not stiff. Stir one-third of the egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Top evenly with the cherries, leaving about 1/2 inch border around the sides of the pan. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake the cake until golden brown and the it springs back when lightly touched, about 35 minutes.

Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes Run a small knife around the cake to loosen it from the side of the pan. Remove the ring and let the cake cool completely. When it is completely cool, invert the cake onto a large plate. Remove the spring form bottom and the waxed paper, then invert the cake onto a serving plate. Serves 8

These lovely sour cherries are in sweet syrup with a touch of hazelnut flavor, so awesome by itself over ice cream, or use it in baking!
 
 

42 comments:

Joyful said...

Looks good. Cherries are on here for $2.99 per pound. It happens every year for a very short time. Once in a while they even come down to $1.99 but at that price they are too soft to eat. Probably good for cooking but when I eat my cherries I like them firm, sweet and juicy. I'm eating a lot of cherries right now as the season is short here. I buy them at most prices. Just munched on some tonight ;-)

Kati said...

Nagyon szép lett a cseresznyés sütid:) Nálunk már lejárt a szezonja, már nem lehet kapni.
Abban a szép üvegben voltak a cseresznyék?

Böbe said...

Látom csak megbontottad a féltve őrzött finomságodat! Nagyon szép az üveg is. A tortád pedig csábítóan guszta.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

It looks divine!

Ola said...

it sounds very very delicious!

mellissina2 said...

Finom lehet a torta én meggyel szeretem de nagyon,és kellemes a környezet!

Sissi said...

Lovely cake, Elisabeth. I hope you have kept the cherries in syrup jar. It's so beautiful! I think it's one of the products I would buy just to keep the container ;-) (I did it once with a supermarket, awful panettone because the metal huge box was gorgeous. I still have it. It was well worth the price.
Talking about cherries, I have just found some white cherries, my favourite when it comes to eating raw. Do you have them in your region? They are rather rare here, so I was very excited! They have this small hint of acidity the red ones don't have.

Angie Schneider said...

A wonderful tea cake, Elisabeth. I love the add of fresh cherries.

Phong Hong said...

Elisabeth, that is a lovely cherry tea cake! I wish I could taste a slice. I love cherries but they are very expensive here in Malaysia.

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Patty, after I baked this wonderful tea cake is when I noticed that the price of cherries has dropped down drastically; I did buy 2lbs and it is the best sweet, large, and firm cherries to munch on. Will use some for baking next time:)

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Piroska, ez pontosan meggy, ami ebben a szép üvegben van. Amarena, az savanyut jelent. A környezet, az pedig semmi más hely...a lányom terasz, és hátsó udvara!

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Thank you, Angie. Next time I will add the fresh cherries. These sweet/sour cherries were in this gorgeous jar with the incredible hazelnut syrup.

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Nálunk pontosan most van a cseresznye szezonja, de nem itt terem. Most már sokkal olcsóbb mint egy-két hónapja. Igen, ebben a gyönyörü üvegben volt a csersznye amit ajándékban kaptam, Olaszországbol. Féltem kinyitni, és keveset használni, mert drága ez is!

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Böbe, teljesen igazad van. Féltve bontottam meg ezt az őrizett finomságot. Az üveg, magában egy különleges és szép ajándék! Köszönöm a kedves kommentedet!

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Phong Hong, here in South Florida is no different. They are very expensive here, as well. Just this week I noticed the price dropped down drastically. I'm sure it will not last long!

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Thank you, Sissi. I did keep the jar not just because it is still half full, but it is a really beautiful and well made heavy ceramic jar that could be re-used for other uses with the 'twist-on' lid. I have never even seen white cherries here in S. Florida...only the red Bing cherries; must be very pretty, and just wondering about the taste. We do not have any kind of cherries growing in S. Florida, at all, that's why they are so expensive. We get them from California.

Man Ridwan said...

Looks moist and perfect color, I can smell the lemon for sure and fresh cherry looks good in this cake!

Paula @ Vintage Kitchen Notes said...

I bought amarenas for a long time, now I can´t find them easily. They´re sensational with cream ice cream. And they last so long! I mean, I had a jar for YEARS in the fridge. This is such a lovely cake, especially for the winter here, with a cup of coffee!

Kathy said...

Elizabeth, This is simply a beautiful cake. I will have to give it a try! I have never seen amarenas before…I will be looking for it. I have that Sheila Lukins book…I should really take out a few of my favorite books and use them!! I became a fan of Lukins when the Silver Palette cookbook was given to me as a gift…one of my favorite cookbooks. Have a great weekend!

Rosita Vargas said...

Deliciosoy lindo cake me encanta,saludos y abrazos.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Your cherry tea cake looks delicious! Nearly anything with cherries is a winner in my books.

Gizi said...

Nagyon finom süteményt sütöttél, és olyan csalogató az a szeletke, hogy kedvem lenne beleharapni. Csodaszép a tortatálad, a terítőd, és az az üveg teljesen lenyűgözött. Gyönyörű fotókat készítettél. Nálunk már nincs cseresznye, de megsütöm sárgabarackkal. Puszillak!!

Carmen Anderson said...

I have never tried Cherry Tea cake, it's such a simple and delicious recipe! I know my husband would love it. He is a big fan of cherries! Cherries are not cheap in NYC neither, I really wish we lived in California where our families are, because they have the BEST cherries there!!!

Carmen Anderson said...

Have a great weekend Elisabeth! x

Hankka said...

Gyönyörű, nagyon guszta! :) Kár, hogy már nincs cseresznye, nagyon finom lehet ez a sütemény! :)

mia xara said...

Very nice and moist cake, Elisabeth!Cherries are really delicious in cakes, especially when their price is low..Hope you enjoy a great weekend, XO

The Mistress of Spices said...

OMG, cherries! Very hard to find and expensive to find here in Thailand. I could just eat them by the bowlful otherwise! This cake sounds like it would be perfect with a cup of tea or glass of milk.

Bel James said...

The cherry cake looks delicious. My mother usually bake a cake and use a cherry as a topping. I would not know what the Hungarian Cherry Tea Cake would really taste but I knew it will be delicious since you used sour cherries are in sweet syrup with a touch of hazelnut flavor. Thanks for the recipes.

Illéskrisz Konyhája said...

Nagyon guszta lett! Imádom az ilyen kevert és gyümölcsös sütiket. Csodás az az üveg.

Mr. & Mrs. P said...

Cherries are just poping out everywhere.. This cake is one perfect explain of how delicious they are..

lena said...

hi elisabeth, you know i've never used fresh cherries in baking before..you may know that it's quite expensive here just for a small punnet..so most of the time i just eat them fresh and when i feel like baking, i just dont know what to bake..haha..at first i thought that jar is one of your thrift find but thru the link, i realised that the soaked cherries come together with the jar. Such a beautiful jar with nice prints!

Zoe said...

Hi Elisabeth,

I can only drool at your cherry cake at this moment... There is limited fresh cherries now in our wintery weather and being the imported ones, it must be more than $7 per pound :p I reckon frozen won't work as good as the fresh ones.

Your Hungarian cherry cake looks wonderful.

Zoe

Katalin said...

Ó de finomat sütöttél. A gyümölcsös sütiket mi is nagyon szeretjük :) Nagyon szép a is, ami az első képeken látszik!

Michael Toa said...

I love it when cherries are in season aka when they're cheap :) and this is such a gorgeous cherry cake. The smell of it baking must be heavenly...

honey82 said...

Ciao bella!!!! :-)
I Adore amarene fabbri,son golosissime,brava!!!!
This cake is amazing..
Kiss and hug darling

Mari Núñez said...

Hi Elisabeth, thank you for sharing such a wonderful cake recipe. I could just imagine how delicious it would be with a cup of tea. I just found a place where to get these black cherries :)

Hugs

Elisabeth Foodandthrift said...

Thank you for all your kind comments...if you're interested to purchase the Amarena Fabri cherries, you can click on my source on the blog, under the highlighted name!

BTW-I've been without Internet for nearly one week now, sorry if I did not comment back on your blog. My Modem totally burned out, due to a storm we recently endured. Shutting off the computer is advisable in a storm...which I did not do. I just installed and registered the new Modem, so I'm back blogging again! xo

Anita at Hungry Couple said...

I love, love, love cakes like this and I love cherries. Sure wish I had some of this here right now. :)

Lyndsey Chapin said...

This looks so good and love the cake stand. Being from Michigan I am a little bit of a cherry snob, and try to get Michigan cherries which is almost impossible here in Florida. I was so spoiled I didn't know some people had no choice but to eat tasteless fresh cherries...hehe :) My sister gets me cherry everything (she has a summer home in Traverse City) But I must admit these the fabulous Amarena Fabbri Cherries look like something I must try!

Zsuzsa said...

Elisabeth I just made cseresznyes pite last week, I have yet to post it though. I miss the cherries already, we had very little on the tree this year and the ones in the store - were frightfully expensive here too. The cake you made looks delicious and the light in your photos is beautiful.

Amelia said...

Hi Elisabeth, your cherry tea cake look superb, so moist and delectable. Perfect to go with early grey tea or coffee. Love your presentation and nice click. I love cherries but over here it's very costly, so hardly use for baking but eat fresh or use for salad.

Have a wonderful week ahead. With lots of love and big hugs to you.

claudia lamascolo said...

what a pretty cake! Hope your having a fabulous summer!