Cherry Butter Pound Cake

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while, in fact, longer than I have had the cherry butter on hand! This recipe showcases fruit butter, which is kind of like a spiced preserves. Fruit butter is made by cooking down fruit and then adding sugar (and usually spices). Apple butter is most common, and is what the original recipe specified. When I was in Philadelphia this spring, I noticed that the Amish vendors were selling a variety of fruit butters. I bought apple, cherry, pear, and plum butter.

I’ve not used cherry butter before, but I figured it would be great in pound cake. Apple butter is a beautiful golden brown, but the cherry butter is a lot darker. When I added the butter to the batter, it looked really dark, almost like there was chopped chocolate in the batter. Interesting! I didn’t have mini loaf pans, so I baked this in a pan with small squares. Each opening about half the size of a muffin, and I made a total of 12 squares. I wasn’t sure how long to bake them, so I started and 20 minutes and went from there. I ended up baking them for 25 minutes; your baking time will vary a lot based on the pan you use.

These didn’t rise very much, and after I checked them at 20 minutes, I wondered if I had messed up and not included any leavening. I double-checked the recipe and it doesn’t call for a leavening agent other than eggs and highly whipped butter. The cherry flavor of these is incredible, and they are quite good on their own. If you want to jazz it up a bit, top with caramel or chocolate sauce.

Cherry Butter Pound Cake

7 ounces flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/c cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cherry butter (or other flavor)
3 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 330 degrees. Grease two mini loaf pans, a dozen muffin cups or a pan with small squares.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Set aside. In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar for a full 8 minutes. It should be very light in color and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and cherry butter until thoroughly combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating for a full minutes after each addition. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 4 increments, beating only until just combined after each addition.

Spoon batter into prepared pans, smoothing the top with a spatula. Baking time varies a lot depending on the pan you use. Baked mini loaves for 40-50 minutes, muffin cups for about 30 minutes and small squares for 25 minutes. To be sure, cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely.

Recipe from Our Share of the Harvest