Cherry Almond Pastry Cake – Cherry almond cream is rolled into puff pastry and formed into a cake and baked to perfection.
Pastry is such a fun medium to work with. And with frozen puff pastry so readily available and easy to work with, there is no reason not to incorporate it more into your baking adventures.
I am guilty of not using frozen puff pastry as much as I should. Most of my experience with it is in basic recipes like turnovers or other classic recipes. But when I saw this recipe for a pastry cake, I was eager to try it out and expand my exposure to quick and easy pastry recipes.
I took a recipe I saw for a pastry cake and switched it up a little by using dried cherries instead of raisins. I also added some gorgeous toasted almonds on top to make the cake extra fancy.
Here is my Cherry Almond Pastry Cake!
Tips & Tricks
- Soaking the cherries is important. The cherries will plump up when soaked in the apple juice. This is important to get the texture just right for this pastry cake.
- Don’t let the pastry get too warm. When working with the raw pastry, it will easier to do if it’s still a little cold. Once it starts to warm up, the butter leaches out and makes the process messy.
- Let the pastry turn deep golden brown. Do not remove the cake from the oven until the top has turned a deep golden brown. Pastry tastes better when it’s browned. Otherwise, it will be raw in the center.
Cherry Almond Pastry Cake
Ingredients
For the pastry cake:
- 1 cup dried cherries
- ½ cup apple juice
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed (7 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar
- 1 cup almond cream recipe below
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- ¼ cup sliced almonds toasted
For the almond cream:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8-inch cake pan or springform pan. Set aside.
- Place dried cherries in a small sauce pan with apple juice. Stir to combine. Set over medium heat until simmering. Turn off heat and let sit for 30 minutes. In the meantime, make the almond cream (recipe below). Cover and refrigerate until needed. Once the cherries are done, drain out the excess juice.
- Roll out the thawed pastry into a 16×10 rectangle. Slice into 4 strips (4inches x 10 inches each). Using on strip at a time, spread ¼ cup of almond cream into an even layer over the pastry. Lay ¼ cup of cherries along the bottom long edge of the pastry. Starting at the edge with the cherries, roll the pastry into a log. Repeat with 3 other pastry rectangles.
- Starting at one edge of the pastry log, tuck into a pinwheel/spiral, making sure not to spiral too tightly. Place pinwheel in the center of the prepared 8-inch pan. Grab another pastry log and continue the spiral using the next log of pastry. Repeat with last 2 rectangles of pastry to finish off the cake.
- Whisk an egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush mixture over the top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake in preheated oven until the pastry turns a deep golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place on serving plate.
- Prepare the icing by mixing powdered sugar and heavy cream together. Add a little more cream if needed, to ensure the mixture can be drizzled. Drizzle over the cake and sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds. Slice and serve.
For the almond cream:
- Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add orange zest and vanilla bean paste and combine. Add eggs, one at a time and then finish with almond flour. Mix just until combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.
Notes
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Cherry Almond Soufflé
Guava Cream Cheese Pastry Braid
Amaretto Baba Cake
I liked it very much thank you
Love a good pastry that is also easy to make at home too! Such a delicious pastry. We enjoyed it for afternoon tea.
This cherry pastry turned out so good! I have been enjoying it with coffee in the morning, and sometimes in the afternoon too! Will definitely make again!
This is a fabulous recipe. I love the idea of making pastries as a cake and the combo of cherries and almond cream is so good!
I am obsessed with the look of this cake! I can’t resist a good pastry, so I know that I am just going to devour these. Thank you so much for sharing, pinned to make this weekend 🙂
This looks like the perfect brunch recipe for my ladies group! I’ve been looking for something with some Fall pizazz to enjoy and the cherries will be just perfect. Thanks for the tips and lovely recipe.
I’m craving this right now. What a beautiful pastry…once the weather turns like this I crave a warm pastry in the morning with my coffee. I have to make this…beautiful recipe!
Two of my favorite on one cake, cherries and almonds. Totally my new favotite.
We are making this over the weekend. Love cherries!
This was delicious and perfect for using up my leftover puff pastry. We enjoyed it for afternoon tea yesterday.
This was such a delicious pastry and was surprisingly easy to make at home!! We enjoyed it for brunch – my whole family loved it!
I love the combo of cherry and almond! So excited to make this unique and beautiful dessert. Thanks for sharing.
I recently tried this Cherry Almond Pastry Cake and it was an absolute delight! The combination of the sweet cherries, nutty almond cream, and the crunch of sliced almonds created a heavenly balance of flavors and textures. Perfect for a cozy, sweet treat that’s both elegant and comforting.
Your cherry pastry was the hit of the evening at my wife’s book club, everyone loved it!