Cherry season has arrived! I love incorporating cherries into my baking, they are unique and add a soft richness to cakes, muffins and tarts. These mini almond cherry cakes are delicate, tender, moist and have a light crumb. The baked cherries add just the right amount of earthy sweetness and a juicy bite!
Not to mention, they are absolutely adorable! They are the perfect sweet, size to add to the spring/summer season of picnics and backyard BBQs. They make adorable treats for summer events, parties or just to enjoy alongside a cup of tea. You’re going to love making these mini cherry cakes, this cherry season!
Ingredients
The star ingredients are fresh cherries. Make sure to use cherries that are ripe and don’t have any bruises or marks on them. You want to buy cherries with the stems still attached. A few important ingredients as well, are almond flour and instant dissolving sugar. Almond flour and instant sugar are key for the texture in the mini cakes. They will give a nice light crumb. The instant sugar will dissolve quicker in the batter than granulated sugar. You can find all your dry ingredients at your local Bulk Barn store.
- Fresh cherries
- All-purpose flour
- Almond flour
- Instant dissolving sugar (caster sugar, fruit sugar)
- icing sugar (optional)
- Unsalted butter
- Egg whites
- Almond extract
- Salt
Substitution
Almond meal and almond flour can be used interchangeably in this recipe. If you use almond meal it will make the mini cakes darker in colour. If you’re unsure of the difference between almond meal and almond flour it’s basically the difference between the almonds being peeled or not. Almond meal is made with raw, unpeeled almonds and almond flour is made with balanced, peeled almonds. Almond flour will be lighter in colour and texture.
Make them Gluten Free
These mini cherry almond cakes can easily be adapted to be gluten free by substituting the all-purpose flour for your favoutite gluten free flour blend.
Tips
- Buy cherries with the stems still attached. A big factor in why these mini cakes look so cute is because of the stem!
- Use ripe, dark fresh cherries.
- Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. This will help with keeping the batter at a consistent temperature after adding the melted butter. This way you don’t overmix the batter. Room temperature eggs will be fluffier too.
- It’s easier to separate egg whites when the eggs are cold.
- Grease the mini muffin pan well. There’s nothing worse than putting all that time and effort into these cute mini cakes and then wrecking them by not being able to remove them from the pan.
- Let the batter rest at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to relax the glutens and for the almond flour to absorb the liquid.
- Try not to overmix the batter, as it will make the cakes tough and dense.
- Make sure not to overflow the muffin cup with cake batter. You want more cherry than batter in each cake.
- The bigger the cherry in the cake the better!
How to Make Mini Almond Cherry Cakes
Step One: Wash and clean cherries, leaving the stems attached. Grease a mini muffin tin and set aside. On low to medium heat, melt butter and set aside to cool.
Step Two: In a large mixing bowl add dry ingredients together and mix well. Add whisked egg whites and mix together until incorporated. Then add your melted butter and mix just until combined. Let the batter rest.
Step Three: Fill mini muffin cups approx. 1/2 to 3/4 full with batter. Then push whole cherries into the center of each filled muffin cup.
Step Four: Bake mini cakes until the edges are golden brown. Let cool on a cooling rack before enjoying and dust with icing sugar (optional).
Mini Almond Cherry Cakes
These cute mini almond cherry cakes are a fun and easy way to enjoy the most of cherry season! Each little cake packs a burst of nutty almond flavour and a sweet, juicy cherry! Be warned though the cherry pits have not been removed!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 30 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour, packed
- 3/4 cup instant dissolving sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 30 fresh cherries with the stems attached
- icing sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Grease a mini muffin tin with butter and set aside.
- Melt butter on low heat, remove and let cool.
- In a large bowl add all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar and salt. Mix to combine ingredients.
- In a separate bowl add egg whites and almond extract. Whisk egg whites until lightly frothy (you just want to break up the egg whites and add a little air into the mixture).
- Add the egg white mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined. The mixture will be thick.
- Next, add the melted butter and mix until smooth and incorporated. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared mini muffin tin, approx. 1/2 to 3/4 full.
- Then press a cherry into the batter of each muffin cup.
- Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until the edges have started to brown.
- Let the cherry cakes cool in the muffin tin for 2-3 minutes before removing. You may need to slide a butter knife around the edges to help release the cakes, do not pull the cherry stems.
- Continue cooling mini cherry cakes on a cooling rack until completely cooled, dust lightly with icing sugar (optional).
Notes
Wait for the mini cakes to cool before enjoying as the cherries will be extremely hot!
Serve with whipped cream.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Best enjoyed the same day.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 19.7g
- Sodium: 47mg
- Fat: 5.4g
- Saturated Fat: 2.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 28.9g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 3.2g
- Cholesterol: 8mg
Keywords: Mini, Almond, Cherry, Cakes, Financiers
FAQ’s
Freshly baked cherries have a rich sweetness with earthy notes. They are less tart or sour once baked as the sweetness increases when baked.
Almond flour is basically ground almonds. It is made with balanced, peeled almonds; is light in texture and colour. Almond flour is gluten free and is very popular in French desserts.
Unfortunately, mini almond cherry cakes cannot be frozen. The texture of the cherries will be mushy and although may taste okay they will look less than appetizing. They are best enjoyed on the same day.
This blog post has been sponsored by Bulk Barn Canada where you can find all your baking needs! All opinions are my own and I’m so happy to work with brands I love so I can continue to share these recipes with all of you! I hope you guys get to a Bulk Barn soon and try out this recipe.
