Almond-Coconut Cake with Cherries and Pistachios
A Milk Street fan favorite, this cake adapted from “Honey & Co.: The Cookbook” mixes rustic Middle Eastern flavors—fruits, nuts, spices, and coconut.
- Makes10 to 12 servings
- Cook Time1¼ hours
- Active time plus cooling20 minutes active, plus cooling
- 16
In 2012 in London, Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer opened Honey & Co., a tiny restaurant that serves up thoughtfully prepared Middle Eastern comfort food. The couple has since opened Honey & Smoke and Honey & Spice and authored several books. This rustic cake is our adaptation of a recipe from their first title, “Honey & Co.: The Cookbook.” Dense, moist and filled from top to bottom with fruity, nutty flavor and texture, the cake is great as dessert, brunch or with coffee or tea. Honey & Co. flavors it with mahleb, a baking spice made from the seeds from a variety of cherry; we use easier-to-source almond extract. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
Don’t use sweetened shredded coconut, as it will make the cake too sugary. Unsweetened shredded coconut—not wide shavings—is the right variety. If fresh cherries are out of season, don’t hesitate to use thawed frozen cherries—they’re equally tasty on the cake. Lastly, don’t worry that inverting the cake out of the pan will cause the toppings to fall off. The fruit and nuts are baked in, so only a couple small pieces may come loose, if any.
To access this recipe, you need to be a member.
Join Milk Street and get instant access to over 3,500 recipes for just $1.