Glazed Cherry Loaf Cake

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I’m getting a little goofy, my friends; please, come join me. Seriously, this morning I found myself going through the stack of Christmas recipes that I somehow never got around to making. I don’t make a lot of cakes, loaf cakes in particular, but my granddaughter absolutely loves the color pink, and when I spotted this recipe online, somewhere, forgive me for not remembering, I thought that I really needed to make this for her. Then, Christmas came and went, and those cherries never moved from the spot on the shelf. Today I thought that it was time to pull out those two 10-ounce jars of maraschino cherries, and make that cake.

This is super easy to put together, requires no special equipment or mixer, and is good whether you add the glaze or not. I am a big fan of glaze, myself, so just had to add it, making it doubly pink, and doubly delicious. Glaze, or no glaze, I had this for breakfast. The gloves are off where food rules are concerned, so people, go crazy! Bake up that turkey that you have in the freezer, make yourself a birthday cake, grill some pork steaks or ribs, do whatever tickles your fancy. Why not?

Glazed Cherry Loaf Cake

¾ c. sugar

½ c. whole milk

½ c. oil

1 extra-large egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. almond extract

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

2 10-oz. jars maraschino cherries,* drained, juice reserved

Glaze:

2 c. powdered sugar

2 T. melted unsalted butter

1/3 c. maraschino cherry juice, reserved from above

½ t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk, oil, egg, and extracts. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined.

Coarsely chop the cherries in a food processor or with a knife. Gently fold the cherries into the batter.

Pour batter into a greased 9”x4” loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, cherry juice, and extracts in a small bowl. Mix until smooth.

Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. Slice and serve.

*If this is for adults only, you may just want to swap the plain cherries for these whiskey maraschino cherries. Ho, boy!