Admittedly, I’ve never understood the hoopla surrounding pumpkin spice latte season, which seems to begin earlier and earlier every year.
Then again, I am a black-coffee drinker all the way.
But put fragrant, autumnal pumpkin spices together with the full-bodied flavor of espresso plus actual bona fide pumpkin in a baked good, and I am so there.
That’s why I jumped all over this recipe for “Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake.”
An easy one-pan cake made with fresh cherries and swirls of cherry curd.
I fell for this recipe hook, line, and sinker.
With emphasis on the “sinker.”
Allow me to explain: If you were to look up this fabulous Bon Appetit recipe that published in its April 2021 issue, you’d find the original one titled, “Strawberry Snacking Cake.” The accompanying photos would show a golden cake baked in a rectangular pan, with its top adorned so prettily with slices of strawberries arranged just so.
I decided to riff on that by swapping out strawberries for first-of-the-season cherries from G.L. Alfeiri Farm that arrived in my Farm Box delivery. Only, cherry halves are obviously heavier, as they sunk to the bottom of the cake. So, instead of cute little cherry halves dotting the top like polka dots, there are ripples of cherry curd brightening it here and there instead. It’s not quite the same effect, but it makes for a striking appearance, nevertheless.
I had enough fresh cherries to snack on out of hand plus bake into this wonderful golden cake.
The taste definitely remains on point, too. “Cherry Snacking Cake” is wonderfully moist, fluffy, and lush from olive oil and sour cream (I actually used yogurt instead) in the batter. There’s a toasty, sweet corn-like grainy crunch from cornmeal. Jam or fruit curd gets dolloped on top, then swirled into the batter before the cut fresh fruit goes overtop.
With an abundance of fruit flavor, it’s like cherry pie in cake form.
