Cherry Streusel Cake with Cherry Cream Recipe
This irresistible cake is wonderfully straightforward to prepare and can be served as a dessert with the delicious cherry cream or enjoyed over a few days as a treat at any time of the day
- 425g can of Cooks&Co Pitted Black Cherries
- 50g caster sugar
- 200ml double cream
- 1 tbsp kirsch (cherry liqueur)
- For the base
- 115g unsalted butter, soft
- 115g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 3 large eggs
- 75g ground almonds
- 75g polenta
- 1 tsp baking powder (gluten-free if required)
- For the streusel topping
- 85g porridge oats (gluten-free if required)
- 65g unsalted butter, diced
- 25g caster sugar
- 65g coconut flakes
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin with a piece of baking parchment.
Drain the Cooks&Co Pitted Black Cherries, reserving the liquid. Sit the drained cherries on a plate lined with some kitchen paper to absorb any excess liquid.
Put the cherry syrup in a wide saucepan with the 50g caster sugar. Bring to the boil and leave to reduce to a more syrupy consistency until you have about 150ml in quantity. Set aside and leave to cool completely.
For the base, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla using an electric mixer until you have a light and fluffy consistency. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the ground almonds, polenta and baking powder. Spread the cake batter into the base of the prepared tin.
Scatter the drained cherries over the top of the base.
To make the streusel topping, put the oats, butter and caster sugar in a large bowl. Add the coconut flakes, crushing them in your hands as you add them to break them into slightly smaller pieces. Rub everything together with your fingertips to make a rough crumble mixture and scatter on top of the cherries. Put in the oven and bake for 50 minutes until the top is nicely golden and the centre feels firm when lightly pressed.
Cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before serving warm or cooling completely on a wire rack.
To make the cherry cream. Lightly whisk the double cream until it starts to form soft peaks. Stir the kirsch into the cooled cherry syrup, then fold this through the cream giving you a pretty, pink cherry flavoured cream. Serve with slices of the cherry streusel cake.
SWITCH IT UP…
You can swap the flavour for Cooks&Co Whole Green Figs – they would be a fantastic alternative to cherries in the cake. Simply drain an 425g tin of whole figs (no need to reserve the syrup) and cut into quarters. Swap the vanilla for the finely grated zest of half orange and make the base as above. Arrange the figs on top of the cake base, and scatter over the streusel topping. Bake as above. Serve with double cream whipped with a splash of orange liqueur.
Jo Pratt x Cooks&Co
