Newfoundland Cherry Cake
Newfoundland Cherry Cake. A big local favourite especially during the Holidays. The secret in this recipe is undiluted evaporated milk for added richness.
Originally posted on December 3, 2007.
2026 Note added to recipe regarding doubling the recipe and baking in disposable aluminum pans.
Back to Christmas baking with a perennial favourite, Newfoundland Cherry Cake . Another very popular treat at this time of the year is the "Cherry Cake".
A moist, dense pound cake with glacé cherries and flavoured with almond extract, this treat is a universal Christmas favourite in almost every Newfoundland household I know.
I can't tell you how many different recipes I've tried over the years for Newfoundland Cherry Cake. Recipes that use cake flour, recipes that use regular flour, recipes that use thick cream, recipes that use whipping cream, recipes that use whole milk, all butter recipes, recipes that combine shortening and butter.
I've tried them all and still keep coming back to this standard recipe that I've made for decades. It's hard to imagine a Christmas in our home without it.
This is also a popular gift item from our household. There is a list of standard recipients among friends and family who depend upon their annual fix.
UPDATE.
One of our biggest dessert cake hits of the year was taking this recipe and adapting it to use fresh cherries. We made it several times during the summer and our family & friends just loved it. Find that Cherry Cake Recipe here.
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out our entire collection of Favourite Newfoundland Christmas Cakes here.
Newfoundland Cherry Cake is a must to have on hand in the freezer or for Holiday gift giving.
If you like this cake you will probably also recognize our very popular recipe for Apricot Raisin Cake. And for even more Newfoundland favourite Christmas Cake recipes click here.
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Newfoundland Style Cherry Cake – a traditional Christmas favorite
Newfoundland Cherry Cake is a big local favourite especially during the Holidays. The secret in this recipe is undiluted evaporated milk for added richness.
Ingredients
- 1 pound chopped glace cherries (About 2 ½ cups) + ¼ cup flour
- 1 ½ cups butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup lukewarm, undiluted evaporated milk
Instructions
- Rinse the cherries in a colander to remove any syrup that they may have been stored in. Pat them day between layers of paper towels.This step helps prevent the cherries sinking into the batter as well. Depending on their size, cut them into halves or quarters and set aside for later. They will get tossed in ¼ cup of flour later but not until just before they are folded into the batter.
- Cream together the butter and sugar well.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Sift together the 3 cups of flour and baking powder.
- Fold dry ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with the lukewarm milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. As a general rule, I add the dry ingredients in 3 portions and the milk in 2 portions.
- Fold in the chopped glace cherries that have been tossed at the last minute in the ¼ cup flour.
- Bake in greased and floured spring form pan, tube pan or two 9x5 inch loaf pans, lined with parchment paper. ( If you like, you can make this recipe in 3 disposable 8x4 inch pans by adjusting the ingredient amounts. See NOTES section below for the correct ingredients amounts, which are about ⅓ more than the standard recipe amounts.)
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes - 1 hour depending upon the size of your cake pan/s. (Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes - 1 hour depending upon the size of your pan.
- Baking times vary greatly on this recipe so rely on the toothpick test to ensure that it is properly baked. When a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, its done. Be careful not to go past this stage or the cake will be dry.
- Let the cake cool in the pan/s for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
To make five 8x4 inch loaf cakes, simple double the recipe above and use the same disposable loaf pans as mentioned below.
To make just three, 8x4 inch loaf cakes, use the ingredient amounts below. ( I buy disposable aluminum loaf pans at the dollar store, supermarket, or Walmart for this and use them several times before recycling them.)
21 ounce chopped glace cherries (about 3 ½ cups) + ⅓ cup flour
2 cups butter
2 ⅔ cups sugar
4 eggs
2 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ teaspoon almond extract
4 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 ⅓ cups lukewarm, undiluted evaporated milk
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Nutrition Information
Yield
32Serving Size
32 Servings (1 large cake or 2 smaller 8x4 inch loaves)Amount Per Serving Calories 199Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 43mgSodium 107mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 1gSugar 15gProtein 3g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Just grease and flour the pans instead of using parchment.
I'm so excited to try this! My boyfriend loves cherry cake and I want him to have something as a dessert after Christmas dinner tomorrow.... I'll let you know how much he loves it
I am looking for a deelicious Cherry Pound Cake Recipe and this one sounds perfect. I want to make it for my 87 year old father for Xmas. We are from Nfld and we all love Cherry Cake.
If I use my 9x5 pans ( 2 of them ) how long should the cakes bake? Oven Temperature?
Do you recommend greasing the pans and dusting with with flour or lining with parchment?
I am anxious to bake (and eat) this cake..... Thanks.
Hi Lynn,
I bake mine in parchment lined pans. Bake at the temp noted, 350 degrees or if you think your oven runs hot these will bake well at 325 as well. The toothpick test will be your best judge of when they are fully baked.
Hi Barry ...
I am going to bake my cakes tomorrow. Do you use salted or unsalted butter? I know unsalted butter is recommended for pound cakes, but your recipe just says Butter.
And I see there is no salt in your dry ingredients.
I want to use what you use. Thanks so much.
Lynn
You can use either. I generally use regular salted butter for baking unless it specifically calls for unsalted. When using salted butter in any baking recipe I always omit any salt that is normally included in the recipe.
What do you mean by "beginning and ending with the dry ingredients"
Divide the flour mixture in 3 equal portions. Divide the milk in 2 portions. First fold in 1 portion of the flour mix, then milk, then flour, then milk, then the final flour amount. To keep a cake batter stable, it is important to begin and end the folding-in process with the dry ingredients.
a new favourite
I can't use Almond Extract, because my grandson has serious nut allergies, but he loves cherry cake, any suggestion for substitute?
I would just add additional vanilla extract. Many people prefer it that way.
Made this recipe over the weekend. Turned out great and a good easy recipe to follow. I will definitely be making more for Christmas.
I used 3 disposable loaf pans that I laid on a dark cookie sheet. Bottoms got a little more brown than the rest of the cake and the top was quite a bit lighter. Not as pretty as yours pictured which looks evenly browned.
Still my husband polished off nearly one entire loaf by last night. So he enjoyed them as well.
Thanks for a good recipe!
Tina
The cookie sheet was the problem. Those dark ones always carry too much heat. If using a cookie sheet make sure it's aluminum or just don't use one at all. Glad they turned out well regardless.
I tried doubling it as I didn't know how much it would make, then when I realized how much batter there was I had to split it into two bowls halfway through - that was fun. One batch makes one large ring cake or two big loaf pans or 3 smaller loaf or disposable pans... One of my cans of evaporated milk had gone well past the best before date so I tossed in some left over whipping cream to make up the difference - not a problem.
Great recipe! A Cherry In Every Bite!! Yummy 🙂