Bundt cake with caramel center and cherries in kirsch

Hello again, everyone! The fun part about cooking in my parents' kitchen is finding all kinds of pans that I don't have at home. One of them is a Bundt pan which you can find so much to do with (fruits, chocolate or candy in the center...).

As I was limited in movement (fractured ankle), and couldn't go food shopping, I made do with ingredients at home, so this version has a caramel center and cherries with kirsch preserve on the side.

Here's the Bundt cake recipe:

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 cup butter

1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour (or almond flour + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 180° C or 350° F.  Butter and flour a Bundt pan generously . In a bowl, cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, then the rest of the wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients and mix for about 2 minutes.  Pour batter into pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the middle has risen and is firm.  Set aside to cool.

Slice the cake through the middle to get two donut-like disks. On top of  the bottom layer, spread a layer of caramel cream. Top with the second layer of cake.  Spoon or pipe cream on top with your favorite piping nozzle, I chose a petal nozzle to make ribbon-like frosting. Optional : decorate with slices of white chocolate or white chocolate candies.  Serve the cherries on the side or on top of each serving, they don't stay up well on the Bundt and tend to slip or drip down...

You can make these while cake is baking, or the night before :

For caramel filling

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons of cream cheese

Melt brown sugar with half the cream over medium heat until well dissolved and bubbling (about 1 minute). Add softened cream cheese with the rest of the cream and whisk in well.  Set aside to cool.

For the cream cheese topping:

3/4 cup whipping cream

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

In a bowl, whip cold whipping cream until you get soft peaks.  Add sugar, then cream cheese and continue to mix until uniform.  Add juice and blend another 1 minute.  The cream should be thickened.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.

For the cherry topping:

2 cups (about 450 g) fresh or frozen pitted dark sweet cherries

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons kirsch

Allow cherries to defrost, if necessary.  In a saucepan, over medium heat, simmer fruit and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer another 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Enjoy, everyone!