On Saturday mornings, while both our sons are at swimming, my friend Kathryn will often pop in for a cup of tea.
Yesterday, as we chatted, I assembled and baked this crumb cake, using frozen sour cherries that I’d excavated from the deep recesses of my freezer. It was the weekend, I was debriefing with a beloved friend, and I was baking. It was a restorative bubble of peace and camaraderie at the end of a chaotic week.
This easy Nick Malgieri recipe comes from The Modern Baker and was originally written for fresh blueberries. It uses a large quantity of butter and flour, and the raw dough in the pan weighed a ton. Despite that, the finished cake was light and gentle eating.
The original recipe can be found here. In case it’s of use, here are my metric conversions of the ingredients list:
Crumb Topping:
- 300g plain (AP) flour
- 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- 75g sugar
- 70g light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 180g unsalted butter, melted
Cake Batter:
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 330g sugar
- 3 large (59g) eggs
- 10gl (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 375g plain (AP) flour
- 10g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 60g (¼ cup) milk (or ¼ cup buttermilk)
- 450g (3 cups) of pitted sour cherries (defrosted first, if frozen)
The cake was baked in a 23 x 33cm parchment lined pan, and took a little longer than the recommended baking time of 40 minutes.
This is a very large recipe, so it’s worth ensuring you have lots of willing eaters before attempting it. Our cake fed the neighbours, our dinner guests both last night and tonight, as well as Pete’s family at brunch this morning. There are still several pieces left for afternoon tea tomorrow!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You have cake leftovers? How is that even possible? Especially with cakes that look as delicious as yours!
Thanks Kate! The leftovers were actually delicious.. :)
Celia, that looks so delicious! I love cakes with fresh fruit in them, especially when it stays on the top as this has done, with a lovely contrasting crunchy crumbly top. I’m not surprised it took longer than 40 minutes to bake though – that tray looks huge!
C, when I picked it up to put in the oven, I nearly dropped it, it was so heavy! I was pretty happy the cherries stayed on top – I made sure to defrost them well, as I’ve had frozen berries drop like stones in cake batter.. :)
Fig, that looks simply fantastic – what a lovely treat to have with a cup of my Krauter und Gewurzteemischung tea… what ever that is… I think it’s Austrian.
Thanks! That tea is a mouthful, Nick! :)
What a great way to start the day!
Greg, the in-laws thought so, which was pretty cool.. :)
What a lovely looking cake, and so versatile too! Just what we need to brighten the dull winter days over here.
Suelle, it was really pretty, but soooo big! :)
This recipe reminds me of my friend’s mom’s kuchen.. a very similar cake only yeast is used in the base. I have so many great memories of this for breakfast and wish I was in your kitchen with you having a bite! This might be perfect for my Friday’s volunteering, since I need a large amount of baking to share! Were the sour cherries fresh or just from the grocers (aka in a bag? I don’t think we have fresh here)
Smidge, they were frozen cherries – I’ve never seen them fresh here. I think fresh cherries would work just as well though. How nice that you bake for others on Fridays..
I had a nice Friday evening with a friend making falafel from scratch… however, it did not have a happy ending, the recipe didn’t work too well, most of the falafel ended up as swimming crumbs in the hot oil :-(
we still had fun and had a nice dinner with the “survivors” – but now I want to get that recipe right.
I clearly don’t bake enough cakes, every time I see one of your cake posts, I want to make it too! ;-)
Sally, there’s something wonderful about cooking with friends, isn’t there? I feel like I do it when I blog, but it’s even nicer in real life! :)
I love sour cherries and a good cherry cake, reminds me of one I make, without the crumble. Delicious! I could take a bite of the one in the picture right now with my coffee.
Thanks Lizzy! I’d love to see your cherry cake recipe.. :)
That looks wonderful! Love the sour cherry substitution….yet another NM recipe that I must try soon! :)
Abbs, look what you started! I can’t stop baking from the NM books now.. :)
It sounds like you were entertaining all weekend Celia. That’s an enormous cake. No wonder it fed so many. And the batter must be very dense because the cherries managed to stay near the top of the cake. It looks delicious.
Charlie, thank you! It was very dense, but I also remembered to defrost the cherries – in the past I’ve used frozen berries, and they’ve gone straight to the bottom.. :)
What a beautiful way to spend a Saturday morning.
:-) Mandy
Thanks for understanding, Mandy. :)
I agree with all the comments- you make the most delicious cakes, Celia!
AND I just happen to have a bag of sour cherries in my freezer!
Heidi, I spent ages looking for a savoury recipe to use my sour cherries in but never found one that appealed, so it was nice to find a use for them! :)
That crumble topping looks great, and sour cherries are great in cakes too. Hard to believe your cake lasted so long indeed!
What a nice sounding weekend- full of friends and food!
Becca, it was a lovely, mellow weekend. The nice thing about having a giant cake is that we could feed whoever walked in the door and not have to worry about not having enough food.. :)
Like the Magic Pudding, cut-and-come-again!
a merry cherry morning to you celia..your cake looks seriously good..
Thanks Jane! Hope your day has been most fine! :)
sounds like the perfect way to round off the week Celia. Cake, tea and a good friend.
(ps. I forget, did you end up buying Short and sweet? All the usual suspects are taunting me with the results on their blogs :-) Do I just get it be done?
Thanks Brydie! I did buy S & S, and I actually haven’t made very much from it yet. I’m actually more taken with my Nick Malgieri cookbooks and Pam Corbin’s Bake, although there are some savoury recipes in the S & S that look very nice.
Thank you, this is my kind of cake I love it
Thanks Tania! Me too.. :)
Wow Celia…that is a serious looking cake…how lovely to cook and chat with a good friend :)
Jane, it was so therapeutic, just the chance to unwind on a Saturday morning. I always unwind best when I’m baking! :)
I am a little shocked that there is left-over cake. It shows a certain lack of commitment on behalf of your family and neighbours – especially with a cake that has lots of butter and looks very toothsome indeed.
Amanda, I’ll tell them all they’re letting the side down.. ;-)
How nice to have some time to yourself to bake in peace. This cake looks so deliciously buttery and yellow.
Christie, if I don’t get to play in the kitchen for at least part of the weekend, I’m crabby for the rest of the week! :)
Looks just like a muffin I occasionally buy form a sourdough shop……….hmm.
If I made muffins do you think the crumble would freeze and thaw successfully?
Elaine, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure. I’ve never tried freezing this sort of cake before…
What a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. I love the colour the cherries give this cake. So pretty!
Thanks Claire! It’s the first time I’ve baked with sour cherries, and I think I might be hooked..
Excavating from the deep recesses of your freezer! This made me chuckle. Crumble topped baked goodies must be in the air lately..I do very much like the look of your sour cherry offering. Sour cherries are a real favourite of mine! :)
Chris, you know how it is. :) The bag of cherries was actually masquerading as raspberries until I dragged it out and had a proper look.. ;-)
lovely to have left overs for breakfast! Have a great day :)
Thanks Tandy! You too! :)
Ooh look at all of that buttery crumb! And here I am with some sour cherries in the fridge that just need a buttery partner ;)
Wow, where did you find fresh sour cherries? I’ve only ever seen them jarred or frozen… :)
Hi Celia, I have finally checked out your blog after seeing your comments on my brother’s blog (cookbooks anonymous). Am loving it! So much good stuff for me to get through!
Cheers, Claire
Claire, I didn’t even know Dave had a sister…how nice of you to visit! Thanks for stopping by! :)
He’s actually got two sisters- someone had to keep him in line when he was growing up!!
WOW! Seems so beautiful and so delicious… I wished to be there too :) Thank you dear Celia, have a nice week, with my love, nia
Thanks Nia! Hope you have a great week too! x
Dear Celia,
This looks like a beautiful cake to go with a cup of tea and catching up with a friend although most times if my friends come over, it’s a few beers and pieces of meat on the BBQ :)
We don’t own a BBQ any more! Ours died and we’ve yet to replace it.. :)
Wow…..you amaze me Celia. And delight me with all your baking. I love the topping/crumble on this cake, and the fact that it feed an army – Florence Nightingale would have been glad to have you on her team! (Don’t mind me, my daughter’s learning about famous nurses)!
Glad you have people to share with – that’s something to be thankful for. Stay well.
Oz, thank you, and you’re right! Having people to share it with is a blessing! :)
What a lovely cake! It will be great delight to bite through those delicate slice :)
Thanks Tes! It was fun to make too.. :)
Wow look at those perfect cherries floating away at the top of that beautiful cake without a care in the world. (there’s a moral in that somewhere) Your Saturday mornings sound delightful dearest, I hope there are many more to come and that there will always be cake to share too xxx
Feeding the five thousand with cake….love it Celia. Have a jar of cherries looking for a baking excuse….
Sally, it just kept going and going and going. I’d love to know how it goes with jarred cherries…
Ohhh, these style cakes are a delight with a cuppa. I’m sure it is awesome with the buttermilk. Yours looks lovely.
Craig
Craig, thank you! It went down well with the masses.. :)
Celia being able to bake and potter in the kitchen whilst there are other people in it, is my idea of heaven – one day!
Choc, one day soon, I hope! It was really a great joy!
This looks pretty good…never had sour cherry before. I may give it a go to serve to my family after Easter supper. It’s between this and an apple one. I’ll check back here once (if) I go forward with the this particular one. Good job illustrating – it sure looks tasty.
Thanks for stopping by, Patty!