SRC: Cherry Cake

This is my last Secret Recipe Club entry for at least a month if not two since Baby Boy could be arriving at any moment now.  The fact that he could come anytime between today and 5 weeks from now and still be considered "normal term" baffles my mind.

This month I was assigned The Avid Appetite.  I love how personal she makes her blog as it's not just about food but also about her family (what a cute little one!) and travels, too.  I could have spent hours perusing but with limited time on my hands, focused on the recipes where I debated the Pretzel Crusted Brownies with Fluffy Buttercream Icing (and we all know that it would have become PEANUT BUTTER buttercream in this house!), the Banana Bread Smoothies (because I've been craving frozen treats with this baby!), and a Cherry Cake which was made as a SRC swap.

Ultimately the Cherry Cake won...but only because the sweet allure of cherries in July.  I try not to make a swapped recipe because I want to highlight something from the assigned blog but I just *really* love cherries and so it was calling me.  I substituted 0% Fage Greek yogurt for the buttermilk.  Also, I don't own an 8" springform so used a regular cake pan and just made sure to grease and flour it generously but otherwise stayed true to the recipe.

I brought this sweet little cake over to my friend Emily's house where we three women literally killed this cake.  To be fair, we were two nursing and one pregnant ladies :).  This is justifiable, right??  To satisfy my frozen treats craving, we served ours a la mode with Cincinnati's best...Graeter's  brand vanilla ice cream.  Soooo delicious together!

One Year Ago: Cold Avocado Soup with Sweet Corn and Bacon and Pineapple "Ice Cream"
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Four Years Ago: Honey Lime Grilled Chicken

Cherry Cake

Ingredients

• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 c non-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 12 oz. frozen whole sweet cherries, pitted
• powdered sugar for dusting
• vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8" springform pan with butter or generously butter and flour a regular 8" cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add Greek yogurt and mix until blended.  Add eggs one at a time.  Mix in the vanilla.  Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Place cherries on top of the cake batter and then lightly press them into the batter.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cool completely.  If using a springform pan, remove the sides and then dust with powdered sugar.  If using a regular cake pan, simply dust with powdered sugar.   Serve at room temperature and with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Source: Barely modified from The Avid Appetite