I made this Cherry Almond Pound Cake as part of a “May Day” Cherry themed Thank You gift for our neighbor. Pound cakes seem to be my new favorite thing – remember the Lemon Butter Pound Cake I made a couple of weeks ago?
This flavor combination of Cherry and Almond was inspired by our Spring trip to Washington DC’s Cherry Blossom Festival a couple of years ago. Sprinkles in Georgetown had a Cherry cupcake in honor of the festival. I came home and immediately made my own version. I thought the combination would be great with the cherry branches I’d be giving as a gift, but cupcakes are hard to package (and hang on a door…), so I opted for this pound cake instead that is easily wrapped in parchment. For details on how I packaged the gift, visit this link. 
Cherry Almond Pound Cake
makes 1 medium loaf size cake
1 stick of butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup of dried cherries
…….
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of almond extract
1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
…….
Preheat oven to 350.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Add eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In another separate bowl, combine milk and extract. Add half of the wet ingredients to the butter sugar mixture, mix for 5 seconds, then add half of the dry and mix for 5 seconds. Repeat with second half, ending with dry ingredients. Fold in dried cherries. Pour batter into loaf pan – I like to line mine with parchment paper. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
For glaze, mix together powdered sugar, milk and almond extract until smooth. Pour over slightly warm cake.
