Mrs. Barnes' Cherry Cake

Cherry Cake is a Newfoundland Christmas favourite and Mrs. Barnes' Cherry Cake ticks all the boxes for a traditional Christmas treat.

Mom was always scribbling down recipes on scraps of paper. Beside the Cherry Cake, you can see most of a recipe for a steamed pudding, of which she was very fond There is also another recipe on that page which never made it in the photo. Most of the recipes are written like this with multiple recipes squeezed onto a piece of paper. Sometimes the same recipe is repeated but in a neater hand as if she wasn't pleased with the way she had written it the first time. 

Every once in a while I'll rifle through the recipes and pick one to make and as Christmas is soon to make an appearance the Cherry Cake looked like it had possibilities. And I was right. The Cherry Cake has been a great success! Maybe someday I'll tackle that steamed pudding. 

I don't remember who Mrs. Barnes was but Mom must have liked her cherry cake because she wouldn't have written down the recipe. First thing I must mention about the recipe is the lack of salt. Mom must have forgotten to write it down or maybe this is how it was given to her but I could bet my life (and I do not say this lightly) that if Mom made it she put in salt so I added salt (in Mom's memory).

I was very pleased with the results of the cake and it will be my 2023 Christmas Cherry Cake which I make for the family. It stays moist for several weeks in a cool place stored in an airtight container. I just ate a piece that had been at a cool room temperature for at least two weeks and it was delicious. The cake is quite tender and moist (not soggy) and has a dense close crumb which is quite desirable in a cherry cake. 

Printable recipe at end of post.

Mrs. Barnes' Cherry Cake

• 3½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups butter, room temperature
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond or lemon extract or 1 or 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 cup milk
• 1½ cups glacé cherries (or well-drained maraschino cherries may be used)

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan or 2 9x5-inch loaf pans. You may line the loaf pans with parchment paper if you wish. 

Measure the flour and remove 2 tablespoons and lay aside. Mix or sift the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt. Lay aside.

Rinse and drain the cherries if they are full of syrup. Cut cherries in half if they are large. Blot cherries dry and sprinkle with the reserved 2 tablespoons flour. Lay aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until the mixture is creamy again. Beat in the flavourings. Add the flour in three lots alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Give a light beating after each addition to make sure all the flour or milk is incorporated. Stir in the floured cherries by hand.

Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan(s) and place in the preheated oven.  Bake 45-50 minutes for tube pan or 40-45 minutes for loaf pans or until golden and cooked through the middle when a toothpick or cake tester is inserted in baked cake and no raw dough is visible. 

When baked let rest 10 minutes in pan on a baking rack before turning out on rack to cool thoroughly. This cake can be kept about 2 weeks in an airtight container at a cool room temperature. The cake also freezes beautifully until needed. To freeze wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap or place in a clean bread bag. Wrap in foil and place in a freezer bag. I have kept this cake in a freezer for months and it has remained as good as the day I made it. 

Makes one 10-inch tube or Bundt cake or two loaves. 

It is best to drain and blot dry the cherries before giving them a sprinkle of flour. 

In a large bowl beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until the mixture is creamy again. Beat in the flavourings. 

Add the flour in three lots alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Give a light beating after each addition to make sure all the flour or milk is incorporated. Stir in the floured cherries by hand.

Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan(s) and place in the preheated oven.  Bake 45-50 minutes for tube pan or 40-45 minutes for loaf pans or until golden and cooked through the middle when a toothpick or cake tester is inserted in baked cake and no raw dough is visible. 

When baked let rest 10 minutes in pan on a baking rack.

Turn out on rack to cool thoroughly.

The cake baked to perfection with the jewel-like cherries peeking through the crust.

Some people like to frost their cherry cakes with a vanilla buttercream or cream cheese icing but I think cherry cake fine just as it is.

I had to have a piece of cake as soon as it was cool enough to slice and it was so good. Two weeks later it was still good.

Cherry Cake is a Newfoundland Christmas favourite!

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩