Batter

• Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease and dust a 9-inch round cake pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, shredded almonds, baking powder, and salt.
• With a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter with the sugar. Beat until it is fluffy and lighter in color. It will take about 3 minutes.
• Add one egg at a time. Whisk well in between each egg. Then add the vanilla extract and sour cream to the bowl. Mix until combined.
• Gradually add the flour almond mixture to the batter, and mix until incorporated. Don’t overmix; the batter should be light and airy.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan, and with a spatula, spread the batter evenly.
• Add the cherries to the top. I like to add them one by one to create an even pattern. Only push the cherries into the batter slightly; if they are pushed in too far, the cake batter will cover them during the baking process, and the nice pattern you created will not be visible anymore.

• Sprinkle shredded almonds over the cherries and some brown sugar.
• Bake it for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven. Carefully run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen the cake from the pan. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, and then take it out of the pan and let it cool completely on a cooling rack.
• Once cooled, dust the cake with powdered sugar* and slice it. Serve as is or with ice cream.