Oh Amaretto, sweet Amaretto! How wonderful you pair with cherries!

Those yummy little red darlings have been in season now for a month or two, so I had to make a dessert that I recently found in Cuisine at Home magazine. Thumbs up for this recipe, especially when warm right out of the oven.
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I altered the recipe a bit, as I always do, to make it more personal. I SOAKED the cherries in 1 Tbsp. of Amaretto di Saronno (Italian almond liqueur) and 1 tsp. of almond extract while I made the crumble dessert. M-mmmmm! It proved to an extremely good addition!
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Next, I made an Amaretto whipped cream topping by blending in some Amaretto diSaronno in the cream. I loved it! But W.D., who is my picky purist, made his own cream topping without any Amaretto. I tried it his way, and they are both very good . . . so it’s your choice how you want to make the cream.
 
 

Cherry Amaretto Crumble

5 from 1 review
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Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup crushed Amaretti cookies
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

For the cake/dessert

  • 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 3 jumbo eggs
  • 3 cups, pitted, dark sweet cherries
  • 1 Tbsp. Amaretto di Saronno
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • Whole cherries with stems, for garnish on top of whipped cream

For the Amaretto Cream

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup sour cream*, do not add sour cream if you don’t add Amaretto
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 – 2 Tbsp. Amaretto di Saronno

Instructions
 

  • FIRST, clean and pit the cherries.
  • Soak the clean cherries in the Amaretto liqueur and almond extract.
  • Let them remain in the marinade until time to prepare the cake batter.

To prepare the crumble topping (first)

  • Combine the flour, Amaretti cookie crumbs, butter, almonds, and brown sugar.
  • Mix gently until the mixture looks like coarse, little lumps about the size of a 'pea'.
  • Chill the topping while making the cake batter.

To make the cake batter

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray a deep pie pan (I used ceramic) with non-stick cooking spray (I used butter flavored). Set dish aside.
  • With a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Beat in vanilla extract.
  • In a separate bowl, mix in flour, salt, and baking powder.
  • Add these to the creamed mixture WHILE ALTERNATING with the eggs that are added one at a time and then adding a little more dry mixture . . . repeat until all is well mixed.
  • Spread the batter into the baking dish (it won't pour, it is very thick).
  • Place the cherries onto the cake batter.
  • Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the cherries.
  • Cover the crumble with aluminum foil (loosely) so the topping does not burn while baking.
  • Bake for 50 - 60 minutes until the top is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  • Serve warm with Amaretto whipped cream or plain.*
  • Garnish with whole cherries with stems.

Notes

  • *Leave out the sour cream if you are not adding any Amaretto; it is used to thicken the whipping cream when Amaretto waters the cream down.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment and send me a photo to share here on the blog! Or share it on Instagram @italianbellavita or use the hashtag #italianbellavita.
 

 
 
 

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