CANDIED CHERRY CAKE

When Grandma was a little girl, Candied Cherry Cake was her favorite treat. Quite often the cherries fell to the bottom of the cake so she could eat them first, followed by the squishy crumbs. The cake is cooked at a low temperature to encourage the cherries to rise.

Makes an 8-in/20-cm cake to serve 6-8
1½ cups/250 g candied cherries
2 cups/250 g flour, more for the pan
2/3 cup/140 g butter, more for the pan
1½ cups/150 g sugar
4 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup/150 ml crème fraîche
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling
8-inch springform pan

1. Heat the oven to 300″F/150″C. Butter the cake pan line it with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper. Sprinkle a spoonful or two of flour in the lined pan and shake it until the bottom and sides are coated, then discard excess flour. Rinse the cherries in boiling water to wash away syrup and dry them thoroughly on paper towels. Cut whole cherries in half, then toss them with a little of the flour until coated.

2. For the batter: cream the buffer in an electric mixer, beat in the sugar and continue beating 2-3 minutes until the mixture is soft and light. Beat in the eggs. one by one, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour alternately with the crème fraîche, folding them into the mixture with a metal spoon. Add the cherries with the last batch of flour.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the heated oven for 1 3/4-2 hours or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding it and transferring it to a rack. to cool completely. Just before serving, sprinkle Cherry Cake generously with confectioners’ sugar.