Sour Cherry Coffee Cake

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Tart, sour cherries are the perfect addition to a sweet vanilla coffee cake with a crumble topping.

A plate with a piece of sour cherry coffee cake, a pair of sour cherries, 2 forks, and a cup of coffee on the side.

J and I went to the farmer’s market last weekend.  Lately he’s had an obsession with farmer’s markets.  He was playing a game that talked about them and now every day when I ask him where he wants to go he replies the farmer’s market.

Thankfully we live in a place with quite a few farmer’s markets.  We can go on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  The one we went to on Saturday was a small one but we hit the fruit jackpot.

One of the farmers was selling sour cherries and fresh raspberries.  J immediately picked up the raspberries and told the woman he wanted them.  She laughed and I told her that was fine.

I then got excited to see the sour cherries.  She told me there wouldn’t be many this year because predators kept eating them so get them while I could.

I grabbed a quart and she reminded me they were the sour cherries so they were good for baking. I told her I was super excited to get them because I love to bake and knew just how to use them.

As soon as I got home I grab my cherry pitter and pitted them all.  If you don’t have a cherry pitter but eat cherries you need to get yourself one.  This is one of the most useful gadgets in my kitchen and makes pitting cherries a cinch! THIS is the actual model I have and love.  It’s worth the price!

Pin Image: Side view of A plate with a piece of sour cherry coffee cake, a pair of sour cherries, 2 forks, and a cup of coffee on the side, text, a cutting board topped with eggs, a cup of flour, a cup of sugar, a stick of butter, and a bowl of cherries.

Ingredients:

  • butter
  • sugar
  • eggs
  • vanilla
  • Greek yogurt
  • sour cream
  • flour
  • baking powder
  • salt
  • sour cherries
  • oats
  • cinnamon

To make the cake preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 9 pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar.   Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Stir in the Greek yogurt and sour cream.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the bowl with the butter and sugar and mix until combined.

Add the sour cherries and gently fold them in.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Meanwhile, combine the butter, flour, sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix with your fingers until a crumble forms.  Sprinkle it over the batter in the pan.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

I made this Sour Cherry Coffee Cake for breakfast on a Sunday morning and it was the perfect treat.  We normally don’t do big breakfasts but I had the cherries and it was our anniversary weekend so I thought, why not?

The smell of the coffee cake baking made my mouth water.   The tart cherries combined with the vanilla in the cake and the sweetness of the cake made me keep sneaking into the kitchen.  I couldn’t wait for it to be baked!

Do I have to use sour cherries?

No, you can use any variety of cherries but the sour cherries work so well with the sweetness of this cake it’s a shame to use anything else.

Can I use flavored Greek yogurt?

Yes!   Vanilla Greek yogurt or even cherry Greek yogurt work really well in this recipe.

Do I have to use both Greek yogurt and sour cream?

No!  You can just use 3/4 cup of Greek yogurt or 3/4 cup of sour cream.  No need to use both if you don’t have both on hand.

Can I use regular yogurt?

You can use regular yogurt but Greek yogurt is thicker and works better.   If using regular yogurt I would add 1-2 tablespoons of sour cream to the mixture as well to help thicken it up.

Can I bake it in an 8 x 8 baking dish?

Yes!  I actually baked mine in an 8 x 8 dish and it took closer to an hour to bake rather than 45-55 minutes.  Just check to make sure that it’s cooked inside before removing it.

A pan of Sour Cherry Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping.

One thing I like to do is to broil the top of the cake for a minute or two before it comes out. It makes it golden brown and crunchy on top which makes it extra delicious..

I cut into the cake and the cherries were bursting as I did so.  The top of the cake had a bit of crunch to it and the bottom did as well.  The inside was soft, sweet, and tasted of vanilla.

The cherries were tart and went so well with the sweet cake.  I had mine with a cup of coffee and it was absolute perfection.

If you want to fancy it up you can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top.  A scoop of vanilla yogurt would also be yummy and better suited for breakfast.

More Coffee Cake Recipes:

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A plate with a piece of sour cherry coffee cake, a pair of sour cherries, 2 forks, and a cup of coffee on the side.

Sour Cherry Coffee Cake

Tart, sour cherries are the perfect addition to a sweet vanilla coffee cake with a crumble topping.
5 from 33 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Author: Hezzi-D

Ingredients

For the coffee cake:

  • 3/4 c. 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 c. sour cream
  • 1 3/4 c. flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 c. sour cherries pitted

For the topping:

  • 4 Tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/3 c. oats
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugaar.
  • Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  • Stir in the yogurt and sour cream and mix well.
  • In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.
  • Gently fold in the cherries taking care not to overmix.
  • Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
  • To make the crumble combine all topping ingredients in a bowl and use your fingers to press the butter into the other ingredients to form a crumble.
  • Sprinkle the crumble on top of the coffee cake.
  • Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

Recipe adapted from The Baking ChocolaTess

A top view of A plate with a piece of sour cherry coffee cake, a pair of sour cherries, 2 forks, and a cup of coffee on the side.

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5 Comments

  1. I can’t wait til the farmer’s markets are back! This coffee cake is a beautiful way to celebrate them!

  2. YUM. I still have some sour cherries in my freezer from our daughter’s tree. They are going to be made into this wonderful coffee dake. Thanks Heather.

  3. This looks delicious! Now I am going to have to check for sour cherries my next trip to the grocery store! Farmers Markets haven’t started up for the season around here yet. I guess it needs to stop snowing…

  4. Love that J has a farmer’s market obsession, I can totally relate. I’m a big fan of cherries and I can’t wait to give this a try.

5 from 33 votes (33 ratings without comment)

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