Cherry compote is lightly blended throughout lemon pound cake and then topped with lemon icing. Dense, moist, and sweet this Marbled Cherry Pound Cake is a great way to use summer cherries.
This melt-in-your-mouth pound cake is sweet and tangy, full of summer cherries. It’s the perfect combination when you want a sugary and fruity treat without much effort.
To make this Marbled Cherry Pound Cake recipe, you'll need:
- Sweet cherries – Fresh or frozen can be used in this recipe. Frozen fruit tends to have more water, so you’ll just need to cook the compote down for a couple of extra minutes using frozen cherries.
- Granulated sugar
- Potato starch – Corn starch can be substituted instead.
- Lemon juice – Fresh is best!
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Avocado oil – Any neutral oil will work, but avocado is what I’ve used.
- Flax eggs – To make one flax egg mix one tablespoon of flax meal and three tablespoons of water then let thicken. Using warm water helps the mixture thicken faster too!
- Lemon zest
- Unsweetened soy milk
- Powdered sugar
Notes:
Can you overmix pound cake batter?
Yes! Overmixing makes the cake doughy which is why it’s important to mix the wet ingredients together well before gently folding them into the dry ingredients.
What size pan should you use to make pound cake?
A 9×5-inch loaf pan is a standard size, but feel free to use a smaller pan if that’s what you have on hand. The resulting cake will just be a little taller and potentially require 5-10 minutes of extra baking time.
How long does pound cake stay fresh for?
Store this pound cake in an airtight container or with beeswax wrap at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Since this cake has cherry compote, I recommend storing it in the fridge just to ensure it stays at its best quality for the longest. Alternatively, you can slice and freeze the pound cake but if you choose that method I would leave the icing off until you’re ready to serve or top it with a dusting of powdered sugar instead.
Marbled Cherry Pound Cake
Ingredients
Cherry Compote
- 1 c sweet cherries pitted
- ⅛ c granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp potato starch
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
Lemon Pound Cake
- 1¾ c all-purpose flour
- ¼ c potato starch
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ c avocado oil
- ½ c granulated sugar
- 2 flax eggs see above for more info
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- ¾ c unsweetened soy milk
- ¼ c lemon juice
Lemon Icing
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp lemon zest optional
- ¾ c powdered sugar
Instructions
First, make the cherry compote.
- In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and heat on medium heat - stirring frequently - until simmering (3-5 minutes).
- Once thickened, remove from heat and set aside.
Next, make the lemon pound cake.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the avocado oil, sugar, flax eggs, lemon zest, milk, and lemon juice until well combined.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until no dry spots remain, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
Then, assemble.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ (180℃) then in a lightly oiled 9x5-inch loaf pan, pour in about ⅓ of the cake batter.
- Spoon in half of the cherry compote, then top that with another ⅓ of cake batter.
- Top that with the remaining cherry compote then pour the last of the batter on top.
- With a knife or chopstick, swirl the batter and compote together - without fully mixing the two - to create a marbled appearance.
- Bake the cake for 55-60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool while you make the icing.
Finally, make the icing and top the cake.
- In a small bowl combine all icing ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the loaf pan and drizzle the icing on top. Slice the cake then enjoy!