Bursting with sweet cherries and old-fashioned charm, this easy one-pan cherry cake is the kind of simple summer dessert you'll make on repeat. It's buttery, tender, and comes together fast-no fuss, no fancy equipment. Just fresh fruit, a quick batter, and a single pan. Serve it with a dusting of powdered sugar, a scoop of ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream. Make it either gluten-free or with all purpose flour (I've done both). It's always a crowd-pleaser.
For simplicity sake I'm calling this a cherry cake. It's sort of a cross between and old fashioned American dessert called a fruit buckle, and a country French dessert called a clafoutis. When it's fresh cherry time of the year, this is the first recipe I think of. No sugary neon maraschino cherries or pink color frosting, just a simple, rustic one-layer cake with fresh sweet cherries.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- One-pan wonder - A simple summer dessert that bakes in a single pan.
- Sweet cherry flavor - Fresh cherries make all the difference.
- Made from scratch - No boxed mixes here, just real ingredients and easy steps.
For another fantastic cake, try this lemon olive oil cake, one of my favorite dessert recipes.
Recipe Ingredients
How do you make a cherry cake from scratch? Let me show you how easy it is.
- Cherries - The best cherries for cherry cake are fresh, sweet varieties. Look for Bing, black, or yellow-red Rainier cherries-whatever looks best at the market.
- Flour - I use King Arthur gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum for structure and binding (a must in gluten-free baking). Not gluten-free? All-purpose flour works too, that's how I made it before going GF.
- Baking powder - Choose aluminum-free baking powder to help the cake rise evenly.
- Butter - Unsalted dairy butter is best for baking (I never buy salted).
- Sugar - Natural cane sugar sweetens the batter without being overly refined.
- Eggs - Large eggs add color, richness, and structure to the cake.
- Almond extract - Almond and cherry are a classic flavor pairing, and this extract adds just the right touch, but you could use vanilla extract.
- For serving - Heavy cream for whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Please see the recipe card for quantities.
Chef's Note: I've been making this cherry cake for decades-originally with all-purpose or cake flour before I started baking gluten-free 14 years ago. It works beautifully either way, so feel free to use regular all purpose flour if you don't need a gluten-free version. But if you use GF flour, no one will even know.
Substitutions and Variations
- To make this cake dairy-free use unsalted plant-based butter such as Miyokos in a block or Earth Balance. Don't buy the tubs or "buttery spreads" as they are not the same as cubes or blocks. If you are nut-allergic, using plant-based butter could be a challenge as many use cashews. Read labels carefully. For good substitutes, here's a good article on vegan butters in baking.
- To reduce sugar, use part or all monk fruit blend.
- Swap the almond extract for vanilla extract or vanilla paste.
For another easy almond flavored cake, try this almond flour orange cake.
Chef's Tip on tools: use disposable kitchen gloves protect hands from the high stain juice of cherries (and a sturdy kitchen apron). The best way to pit cherries for a cherry cake is with a handy, inexpensive kitchen gadget called a cherry pitter. For the best results with this cherry cake (and all baking), weigh your flour with a digital kitchen scale. This is especially important with gluten-free flours.
Recipe Instructions
You need a 9" springform pan for your baking pan, and parchment paper, either pieces you can cut or 9" parchment rounds. Buy them online or at a kitchen supply store. Have your butter and eggs at room temperature before starting.
Chef's note: Fresh or frozen cherries? I have not tested this recipe with frozen pitted cherries. My concern is all of the extra moisture frozen cherries have. Even when thawed and patted dry in paper towels, they may not work out well in this recipe. If you try it, be sure the cherries are as dry as possible and let me know how it comes out.
Serving Suggestions
Serve it for dessert but sneak a piece for breakfast. All this cherry cake needs is a simple embellishment such as a scoop of vanilla ice cream, lightly sweetened whipped cream, or a little sweetened plain Greek yogurt (with honey), or just eat it plain. It's that good. A simple dusting of powdered sugar or powdered monk fruit is good too.
Cherry cake keeps wrapped with plastic wrap on the counter for 2 days or 3-4 days well wrapped in the refrigerator, although it will soften. Honestly, it disappears too quick!
If you love cherries like I do, try this healthy cherry smoothie with Greek yogurt.
Recipe FAQs
Some recipes use maraschino cherries but a cherry cake is far better if you use real sweet cherries. It depends on the style of the recipe. Maraschino cherries are preserved, bleached, dyed to neon red, and sweetened with sugar. To me they are not really cherries. I vote for real fresh cherries, a healthier, tastier choice.
It depends on what you are baking, as cherries come from sweet to sour. Sweet Bing cherries and black cherries, Ranier cherries, and Lambert cherries work well. Use what is best at your market. Bing cherries and Raniers are my usual choice for baking. The varieties will vary by where you live. Sour cherries can be good for baking pies, cherry compotes, and crumbles. They are more fragile, softer and often smaller than sweet cherries, so use them up faster then you would a sweet cherry (or pit and freeze them).
Not if fresh cherries are specified. Fresh cherries and maraschino cherries are very different and the results will not be the same. For a maraschino cherry cake recipe you need one created with that style of cherry instead of fresh cherries.
More Delicious Dessert Recipes
Check out the dessert category page for more ideas. If you enjoy baking, try this orange almond cake. It's another one pan easy recipe. If you love frozen desserts, try this nectarine sorbet, refreshing and dairy-free too.
⭐️Did You Make This Recipe?
If you make this delicious cherry cake, please add your comment. I appreciate your feedback and enjoy hearing from you. If you loved it, please give it a 5-star rating! They really help other readers.
📖 Recipe
Easy One-Pan Cherry Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Kitchen gloves optional
- Cherry pitter tool optional but helpful
Ingredients
Cherry Cake
- Non-stick spray or use the butter wrapper
- 35-40 large fresh sweet cherries 12 ounces before pitting
- 1 cup gluten-free flour blend 4.6 ounces
- 1 teaspoon baking powder aluminum-free
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 4 ounces unsalted dairy butter at room temperature, sub plant butter
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar or monk fruit blend 5 ½ ounces
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract or sub vanilla extract
- 2-3 teaspoons sugar optional for top before baking
Instructions
Pre-heat Oven, Prepare Pan
- Position oven rack in the center and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your pan. Spray or butter the bottom of the springform pan and line the bottom with a parchment circle.
Pit the Cherries
- Wash, stem and pit the cherries with a cherry pitter tool or a paring knife. Cut the cherries in half, top to bottom.
Blend the Batter
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy with a hand-held electric mixer. Add the eggs and beat until incorporated and the batter is smooth. Add in the almond extract. Add in the flour blend. Beat on low speed, increasing speed as batter stiffens, until smooth. Batter will be thick.
Bake the Cake
- Scrape batter into the pan and smooth to the edges with a flexible spatula. Starting at the outer edge, place the cherries cut side down on top of the batter completely covering the top. Sprinkle the top with the 3 teaspoons extra sugar if desired and. Bake cake until golden on top, 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester, toothpick or paring knife inserted in the center comes out clean, and top is lightly golden.
Cool Cake and Serve
- Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Run a thin paring knife around the inside of the pan edge to free the cake. Pop the spring and remove the sides of the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with ice cream, whipped cream, or powdered sugar. Cake keeps 2 days well wrapped on the counter or up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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Kulinarna Wyspa says
Classic recipe, but unfortunately I have never tried to prepare this cake myself. It is about time to change this. I will use your recipe, because it sounds very credible to me.
Mary@siftingfocus.com says
Sally, you have inspired me to give clafoutis another try. I made it once and didn't care for that particular rendition. Your recipe sounds great. Love the addition of the whole wheat pastry flour.
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
This cherry cake looks divine!
Russell van Kraayenburg says
This is my kind of cake! It looks lovely!
Sally says
Sally, this is my kind of cake! I haven't been doing much baking, so you really inspired me with this. I can imagine it with nectarines, plums, raspberries, and even apples as the season winds down. I've made cakes with frozen berries, and I think as long as they are not defrosted first they will work. If I don't get around to this soon enough, I'm willing to risk it....Thanks!
Shut Up & Cook says
We've been up to our eyeballs in cherries, and running out of ideas of what to do with them...so this sounds like just the ticket!
susan says
I am not a cake and frosting kind of gal - so not my style, This cake, on the other hand, is so something I would gobble up. Looks gorgeous, Sally!
Christina says
Hi Sally,
This cake looks absolutely yummy. A small note of clarification; the ingredients note 1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons or 13 grams). Shouldn't that be 113 grams? And the eggs? Also, any suggestions should you not have access to fresh cherries and have to resort to frozen ones? Thank you in advance!
Sally says
Hi Christina. Thanks for the catch. Just updated. I have not tried frozen cherries. Would be a good experiment. My only concern is their moisture content. If they are not too wet after thawing and draining it could work.
Nan says
Hi Sally, I notice you mention eggs in the directions and yet there are no eggs listed in the ingredient list. I'd love to make this recipe but wonder about the eggs? Thanks!
Madonna says
I love the thought of any cake that can be quickly assembled, but has a wow factor. Oh, and most anyone would have the ingredients on hand with the exception of the fruit. You can just tell by the color of this cake that it has flavor. Thanks again for another wonderful recipe.