Lemon Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Sour Cherries

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400℉.

Brush a bit of Zucchi Lemon-Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil all over a 7-inch bundt pan. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and shake it all around, making sure that the pan is fully coated in flour to help the cake from sticking to the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, milk, and lemon olive oil. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and mix well.

Sift the flour into the wet ingredients. Add the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix just until all the flour dissolves.

Drain the pitted cherries and pat dry with a towel. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to the pitted cherries and shake until all the cherries are coated.

Carefully mix the cherries into the batter, distributing them throughout.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Check for cake doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake (it should come out dry).

Let the cake cool in a pan for 10 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to gently release the edges of the cake from the pan. Flip the cake upside down to remove it from the pan entirely, letting it cool on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine the icing sugar, Zucchi lemon oil, and lemon juice. Whisk until a thick and glossy glaze forms. If it’s too thick, add a drop of water or extra lemon juice to thin it out. This recipe makes extra glaze, so feel free to halve the recipe. 

Once the cake is cooled, pour the glaze over the cake. Decorate with extra cherries and lemon slices, sprinkle with icing sugar, and serve.

Note: Sour cherries are very different from sweet cherries. They are smaller, have shorter stems, and are less sweet than sweet cherries. Ruby red in color, sour cherries have a light, beige flesh. You’ll find that they are easier to pit than their sweet counterparts – it can be done by hand with very little effort.

If you cannot find the sour cherries, you can, of course, use regular sweet cherries in the recipe but we suggest using red currants as a substitute as they have a similar sweet-and-sour flavor. Cranberries could also be a nice holiday alternative.