Now that I have your attention, I knew you guys would know which scene this recipe comes from.
Early on after seeing the movie, I was keen to get hold of this recipe, so I asked around and someone passed me a workable recipe, which I have since modified and adapted. Trust me, this is tested and I have tried it out on church members and the choir and they loved it. Please note that our measurements in Australia are metric, if there's someone experienced in translating this to US measures, that would make it a lot easier for most of the other users on this forum.
Cherry Cake
Ingredients
425g can dark sweet pitted cherries
1 tbsp self-raising flour (for dredging cherries)
180g butter
160g castor sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp kirsch / cherry brandy
4 tbsp cherry juice (see method)
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 egg whites
1 tbsp castor sugar (for egg whites)
Method:
Grease sides and line base of 21cm round cake tin with silicone/baking paper.
Drain can of pitted cherries, reserving juice. Measure out 4 tbsp of cherry juice, set aside. Dab cherries with paper towel until fairly dry, then dredge with 1 tbsp self-raising flour.
In large bowl, cream butter, castor sugar, vanilla essence and 2 tbsp cherry juice until light and fluffy. Add kirsch slowly, beating all the while, followed by egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternately with remaining 2 tbsp cherry juice.
In separate bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy, add the 1 tbsp castor sugar and continue to whisk until soft peaks form. Fold whisked egg whites into batter.
Pour batter into prepared tin. Shake excess flour off the cherries, then drop them into the batter one at a time.
Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 170°C and bake for a further one hour or until skewer inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.
Cool cake in tin until lukewarm, then invert onto cooling rack. Serve warm or cold. Makes 8-12 servings.
Notes, hints and tips (apologies to experienced cooks, this is to help first-timers):
* Please note Australian measurements are metric: 1 tsp = 5ml; 1 tbsp = 4 tsp = 20ml; US tablespoons are 15ml so adjust accordingly;
* Butter, sugar etc. should be creamed till light and fluffy, which can take a few minutes even with a mixer. Mixture is properly "creamed" when a small amount dropped into a cup of cold water floats;
* To prevent the creamed mixture from curdling when the kirsch and egg yolks are added, add in a bit of the flour from the recipe;
* Egg whites must be separated carefully from yolks, no trace of yolk must be mixed in with whites, or they won't whisk properly. Bowl & whisk for whisking whites must be clean, dry and grease-free too;
* Soft peaks are when egg whites are whisked till stiff enough that when beaters are lifted and the whisked whites stand up but just droop over at the tips;
* Folding of egg whites into cake batter must be done gently; it is best to fold in a small amount (say a heaping tablespoon) of whisked egg whites into the cake batter first, this helps slacken/loosen the mixture, and the rest of the egg whites will fold in more easily without deflating. Use an "under-over-turn" or "figure-of-eight" movement to fold in -- but gently! After slacking the mixture, fold in the remainder in 2 or 3 batches;
* If you like your cherries distributed into the cake a little more, try poking 1/3 of them into the batter. The rest will sink in somewhat, leaving a lumpy surface, which I think is part of the home-made charm.
After you try it, if you have improvements, suggestions, or feedback, let me know!
Now a question for you brokeaholics: Would Mrs John Twist have used a Sunbeam Mixmaster? Perhaps she had one from earlier days? From what I understand, it is a bit of an American icon, it was also very popular here in Australia. A pity I gave my woodtone (!) model away, otherwise I'd have used it to give the cake-making that extra bit of nostalgia! I imagine nowadays, you would use a Kitchenaid instead.
Have fun! If you were in Brisbane, I'd invite you round for a cup of coffee and a piece of this cake and we can talk Brokeback till the cows come home!
Lem :-)