Red Wine Cherry Almond Upside Down Cake

By christoph

Cherries and almonds are a natural paring and this cake highlights the dynamic duo. The sweet cherries cooked in a red wine syrup make the perfect match to the less sweet biscuit-like cake. Since there is no oil added to this cake it is a reduced calorie treat.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 1 1/4 1/4 cups sugar divided
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 2 2 pounds dark sweet cherries pitted
• 1 1 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup whole raw almonds toasted
• 2 2 2 large eggs
• 2 2 2 egg whites
• 1 1 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon salt

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 60mins
Adapted from jamesandeverett.com

Preparation

Step 1

Position shelf in the center of the oven and heat to 375° F. Prepare an 8” cake pan by lightly greasing bottom and sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper and lightly grease paper.
Combine ¼ cup of the sugar and wine in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir in cherries. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 10 -15 minutes until cherries begin to soften, stirring often.
Remove cherries from the pan with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid in the pan. Place the cherries in a bowl and toss with lemon juice. Transfer cherries to the prepared cake pan in an even layer.
Cook wine mixture over medium-high heat about 3 – 5 minutes or until reduced to a syrup-like consistency, about ¼ cup. Stirring frequently. Remove from heat and pour over the cherries
Place almonds and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground, be careful not to process into a paste.
Place eggs and egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy, slowly add remaining sugar. Beat until thick and lemon colored.
Whisk flour and salt together in a separate bowl. Slowly sift flour mixture over egg mixture and fold in. Fold in ground almonds mixture. Spread batter evenly over cherries.
Bake 40 - 45 minutes or until center is set and golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes before inverting onto a plate.
Cooks Notes
When pitting the cherries work over a bowl to catch any juice which should be added along with the cherries.



Be careful to remove all of the cherry pits. Biting into a cherry stone is not a good thing.