Nena’s Croatian Sour Cherry Cake

You will also need:

1. A springform cake pan, measuring 10-inches across the bottom.
2. A piece of parchment paper to line the bottom of the cake pan.
3. Three bowls.
4. A mixer, standing or hand.
5. A cooling rack.

To prepare the cake:

1. Butter and flour the springform cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. Mix together the flour and baking powder in one bowl. Set aside.

3. Beat together the egg yolks and sugar in a second (larger) bowl.

4. Add the yoghurt to the egg and sugar and beat some more.

5. After the yoghurt is mixed in, add the oil and vanilla and beat again.

6. Stir in the dry ingredients.

7. In a third bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold peaks and stay where they are when the bowl is turned upside down.

8. Fold the egg whites into the batter and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

9. Bake the cake for 5 minutes in the 400 F. oven. At the end of 5 minutes, carefully slide the cake out on the oven rack. Don’t remove it from the rack. Place the cherries around on the surface of the cake and slide the rack and pan back into the oven. Bake it for 30 minutes more. (Putting the fruit on the cake as it sits on the oven rack is a way of keeping the rising batter from sinking.)

10. When done, remove cake from the oven. Cool the cake in the pan. Once cooled, slip off the springform ring, slice and serve the cake. Or … leave the cake in the pan and carry it along on a picnic. It travels well.

An acknowledgement: Croatian Sour Cherry Cake is a recipe by Nena Scott. Like this cake, Nena is a good traveler and for almost thirty years has been making temporary homes with her husband all over the world.