These days I absolutely adore fresh cherries in the summer time. This was not always the case, though, or so I thought.

Growing up, my conception of cherries involved the simple syrup-sugar pickled pink bulbs floating atop my two Shirley Temples every Saturday night at the the country club.

That’s all I knew…
I sure did like the taste of the drink (as well as the cutesy little name), but the bar garnish just wasn’t for me.

I swore off cherry-everything.

~ Until my first trip to the Pacific Northwest. It was there, in the Pikes Place Market, where I grasped the sour-sweet bless of a truly, freshly picked cherry.

There’s really nothing like it.
Even here in Colorado, where the cherries are “good,” there’s nothing like those deep red bings and the blush Rainier bundles pouring out of the baskets at the local farmer’s markets.

I also, once in college, took a trip to Michigan, where I had the delight of slurping up every drip of a freshly churned black cherry ice cream cone.

Wow.

In any case, now that the “adult” me knows and recognizes the beauty of a good little cherry, I’ve become even “more adult” with this recipe, adding a bit of aromatic rosemary to the cake.

I’m sure you’ll love it.

Cherry Vanilla Rosemary Cake

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups + 1 tsp. granulated sugar
4 egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and chopped
2 Tbs. fresh rosemary, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting:
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cold water
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 6-inch wide x 2-inch deep round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. OR, grease and line one large baking pan – which will create a sheet cake and you can cut out smaller layers – having more of them.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and cornstarch. Stir in the baking powder and salt.
In another large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg whites, one at a time for 1 minute each, then add the vanilla.
On low speed add the flour mixture alternating with the milk, adding the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients). Fold the cherries and rosemary into the batter.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake 30-35 minutes or until the tops are brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely.
Beat together the frosting ingredients and slather over each layer of cake while assembling. Top with fresh cherries and extra rosemary.

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