Lemon Cherry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze

This month, the Bundt-a-Month group founders, Anuradha of Baker Street and Lora of Cake Duchess, chose cherry as our theme and my mind immediately drifted to warm weather thoughts. I love spring and summer and the appearance of the first, sweet cherries in the market makes me very, very happy. Unfortunately, we've had a horribly cold winter and it doesn't seem to want to let go. No fresh cherries yet. Hmm. Well, as much as I love fresh cherries, I should be able to make a cherry dessert even when the weather doesn't cooperate.

My first thought was frozen cherries but my market didn't have any. Then I bought a jar of fancy cherry preserves but I wasn't happy with either the taste or consistency. It tasted like some kind of sweet fruit and was fine on our morning toast but not good enough for a cherry cake. Canned cherry pie filling?  I'd never actually tried that stuff but was very pleasantly surprised. I knew I'd have to get rid of most of the "glop" that's in the can because I didn't want to make my cake too wet. But the actual cooked cherries tasted great and they held up perfectly in the cake.

I debated making a chocolate bundt since chocolate and cherry are such a classic combination but my spring/summer brain demanded something lighter. Lots of fresh lemon zest in the cake and a lemony glaze over top went so perfectly with the cherries. The weather may not be cooperating but this cake was like a slice of summer on a plate. Enjoy!




Ingredients

Cake:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Cup sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup sour cream
1 Can (approx. 21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Lemon Glaze:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 Cup powdered sugar
Dash of salt

Empty the can of cherry pie filling into a bowl and, with a spoon, remove the actual cherries from the filling mixture. It's OK if some of it still clings to the cherries. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. When that has been creamed, add in the sour cream and lemon zest and beat until combined. Working in batches, add in the flour mixture until everything is combined.

Pour the batter into the bundt pan and spoon the cherries over the top. Using a spoon or butter knife, swirl the cherries slightly into the batter. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool thoroughly before turning it out of the pan.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze by adding the milk and melted butter to a bowl. Whisk in the confectioner's sugar until it's fully incorporated and stir in the lemon juice and salt. When the cake has been removed from the pan, drizzle on the glaze. Makes approximately 10 servings.

Want to join us and be part of Bundt-a-Month?
- Use cherries to bake us a bundt for April and post it before April 30, 2013
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Please visit the other participating bloggers to see their amazing cherry bundt creations:

• Black Forest Mini Bundt Cakes by Kim at Cravings of a Lunatic
• Cherry Blueberry Cheesecake Bundt by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Cherry Bundt Cake by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen
• Cherry Filled Bundt Cake with Chocolate Cherry Drizzle by Heather at Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Cherry Kirsch Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands
• Cherry Pecan Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake by Anuradha at Baker Street
• Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Chocolate Cherry Coke Cake by Jennie at The Messy Baker Blog
• Chocolate Cherry Dream by Kim at Ninja Baking
• Coconut Cherry Chip Bundt Cake by Anne at From My Sweet Heart
• Lemon Cherry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze by Anita at Hungry Couple
• Mahlab Vanilla Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life
• Spicy Cherry Yogurt Bundt Bake by Paula at Vintage Kitchen
• White Chocolate Black Cherry Yogurt Bundt Cake by Karen at In the Kitchen With KP