Raspberry and Dried Cherry Cake. . .

I first spotted this recipe in Food and Wine, and had to try it. It was originally sourced from Istanbul's acclaimed chef Mehmet Gurs' Scandinavian grandmother. Although it calls for raspberries and figs, I happened to have frozen raspberries, and dried cherries instead. It was incredible! The raspberries and cherries were tart and the cake sweet. Gurs sprinkled the finished product with fresh lavender and powdered sugar. Very pretty!

Raspberry and Dried Cherry Cake- Adapted from Mehmet Gurs Original:

*dry bread crumbs for dusting

*1 cup fine raw cane sugar, (you could experiment with honey too)

*1 stick organic unsalted butter, room temp

*3 eggs

*zest of 1 lemon

*1 1/2 cup unbleached organic flour

*juice of 1 lemon

*1/2 pint raspberries (I used our frozen raspberries from last summer- unthawed, worked great)

*1/2 cup unsweetened dried cherries or 4 figs cut into eighths, or 1/2 pint additional raspberries

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch springform pan, or try in a cast iron skillet as Gurs' grandmother did. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs to coat. Beat the sugar and eggs with a handheld mixer in a large mixing bowl on high speed, until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the butter and the zest. At low speed slowly add the flour and lemon juice, alternating between the two until just incorporated. Blend the rest with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the fruit over top, and gently press into the batter.

Bake on the bottom third of the oven for 40 minutes. Transfer to the top third of the oven and bake for another 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife and release the springform. Serve warm.