Sour Cherry Crumb Cake

Outside of my office in Manhattan, we have a small farmer's market twice a week. I usually hurry past on my way into the office because I'm generally running late, and it's usually all closed up by the time I leave work in the evening. This week though, I had to go return some library books during my lunch break, so I actually was outside during the day. I walked past the farmer's market on the way back, and they had lots of pints of sour cherries and they looked so perfect. I couldn't resist buying two pints of sour cherries and a pint of raspberries.


They sat on the kitchen table for a day while I decided what to make with them. Then I was browsing through the July Martha Stewart Living and found a recipe for Sour Cherry Crumb Cakes. I love crumb cake, not only because it's delicious, but it makes me think of my great-grandma. She would make big sheet pans of crumb cake all the time, with a thick layer of crumbs and light fluffy cake underneath.


She never added any fruit to her crumb cakes, but I really love the addition of the layer of sour cherries to this cake. The tartness of the cherries goes really well with the cinnamony crumb and buttery cake. So you should run out and buy some sour cherries before they're gone for the summer! I've got another pint sitting on the table...


Oh, and if you don't have a cherry pitter like me, I took advice from this The Kitchn article and used one of my pastry tips. Worked perfectly.

Sour Cherry Crumb Cakes
recipe from the July Martha Stewart living or the website

Topping:
2 ounces (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 granulated sugar
1/4 packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Cake:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups (1 lb) fresh sour cherries, pitted or frozen dark sweet cherries

Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter and flour a 9-inch square pan.

For the topping, combine the butter, flour, sugars, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

For the cakes, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fully combined. Add the eggs and vanilla. Then alternately add some flour mixture and some buttermilk, ending with flour mixture. Mix just until it's all incorporated. Pour cake into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Place the cherries on top of the cake in an even layer and then sprinkle with the crumb topping.

Bake about 1 hour. When done a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Cool and then cut and serve.