This holiday cherry almond sponge cake has the perfect spongy texture paired with a subtle almond flavor. The top is smothered with sweet cherry preserves and thinly sliced almonds. This tasty cherry almond cake is the perfect final course to a memorable holiday meal.
Ingredients in Cherry Almond Sponge Cake
- 8 eggs, room temperature. Separate 7 of the eggs into two separate bowls. One bowl for the yolks, and one bowl for the whites. One whole egg will go into the yolks bowl.
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cups potato starch. This recipe uses potato starch instead of flour so it’s gluten-free!
- 1 teaspoon almond extract. If you prefer a more subtle almond flavor, use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 13 ounces Cherry preserves. My favorite is Bonne Maman.
- 1/4 cup almond slices or flaked almonds. More or less to taste.
How do I make Cherry Almond Sponge Cake
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Separate 7 of the eggs into 2 separate large bowls. One bowl for yolks and one bowl for whites. The last egg (the entire egg – yolk and white) will go into the yolk bowl.
- Using an electric mixer on medium/high speed, mix the egg yolks and one whole egg until it looks frothy.
- Gradually add the sugar to the egg yolks while mixing at medium/high speed.
- Gradually add the potato starch to the egg yolks on medium/high speed.
- Add the almond extract to the egg yolks.
- In the other bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff which means you have peaks that stand straight.
- Gently fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Do not overmix.
- Add the batter to an ungreased 10-inch tube pan and bake for 45-55 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when you can insert a knife and it comes out clean, or when you gently push the cake and it springs back. It’s very important that you don’t grease the tube pan.
- To retain the volume of the cake, cool it upside down. Many tube pans come with feet for this reason. If your tube pan doesn’t have feet, you could invert the cake and insert the center portion into a bottle. If you choose not to invert your cake, it’s still delicious but it may not hold perfect form.
- Once the cake has cooled completely use a sharp knife to carefully cut around all of the edges to release the cake. I usually have to flip the cake back over and cut a few times to ensure it’s released from the cake pan and slides right onto the plate.
- Once it’s been removed from the tube pan, pour the the cherry preserves on top and sprinkle with almond slices.
Removing a sponge cake from a tube pan
A tube pan is a round baking pan that has a hollow tube in the center. When we make this holiday cherry almond sponge cake we don’t grease the pan because the cake needs to cling onto the sides and the center tube to rise properly. The cake doesn’t have a leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder so it relies on the air from mixing the eggs.
Once you’ve removed the cake from the oven, it’s best to allow it to cool upside down so that it maintains its shape. Some tube pans have feet for this reason. If yours doesn’t, you could insert the center tube into a bottle. This will require a little creativity in balancing your cake. You may have to use a few items from around your kitchen to pull this off. If you choose not to invert the cake, it will still taste delicious. It just might not look as pretty!
Once the cake has cooled, use a sharp knife and run it along the edges and bottom of the pan to carefully separate the cake from the pan. Once this is complete, place a plate on top of the pan and flip it upside down and the cake should slide right out. If it doesn’t, flip it back and run the knife around the edges one more time.
Looking for more ideas for Passover? 2 Sisters has you covered!
Holiday Cherry Almond Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 8 eggs room temperature. Separate 7 of the eggs into two separate bowls. One bowl for the yolks, and one bowl for the whites. One whole egg will go into the yolks bowl.
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cups potato starch
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 13 ounces cherry preserves I recommend Bonne Maman
- ¼ cup almond slices More or less to taste.
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Separate 7 of the eggs into 2 separate mixing bowls. One bowl for yolks and one bowl for whites. The last egg (the entire egg meaning the yolk and white) will go into the yolk bowl.
- Using an electric mixer on medium/high speed, mix the egg yolks and one whole egg until it looks frothy.
- Gradually add the sugar to the egg yolks while mixing at medium/high speed.
- Gradually add the potato starch and the almond extract to the egg yolks on medium/high speed.
- In the other bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff which means you have peaks that stand straight up.
- Gently fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Do not overmix.
- Add the batter to a 10-inch ungreased tube pan and bake for 45-55 minutes. You'll know the cake is done when you can insert a knife and it comes out clean, or when you gently push the cake and it springs back. It's very important that you don't grease the tube pan.
- To retain the volume of the cake, cool it upside down. Many tube pans come with feet for this reason. If your tube pan doesn't have feet, you could invert the cake and insert the center portion into a bottle. If you choose not to invert your cake, it's still delicious but it may not hold perfect form.
- Once the cake has cooled completely use a sharp knife to carefully cut around all of the edges to release the cake.
- Once it's been removed from the tube pan pour the the cherry preserves on top and sprinkle with almond slices.
Can you use a Bundt pan instead of a tube pan?
Hi Shirley – We’ve never used a bundt pan because the tube pan helps to keep the texture and structure of this cake. I’d use a tube pan or a springform pan lined with parchment paper only on the bottom.