Cherries are here! Let's make a BIG PARTY cake - Black Sesame Cherry Cake

Recipe for Half Sheet Cake. The best season has begun - Stonefruit Season!

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Cherry Season is for BIG Parties

There are so many reasons to celebrate California produce, and cherries are one of those you wait for with bated breath all year. You can always count on a chef having the first crop hidden behind another farmers stand sharing with the homies before they are available to the wider public. As they start rolling your way, may I suggest you make this cake and throw a big party just because ______? You fill in the blank with any reason you want babe. You deserve it.

Sheet cakes are my favorite shape for broad strokes and big design choices when it comes to decorating. Simple or maximalist, you have so much space to explore. Not only that, but their shape is also super stable for novice bakers and any event that involves a drive. They really shine in big party settings and as centerpieces.

This cake celebrates cherries brief and juicy season by using the whole plant approach – root to blossom! We’ll fold cherry blossoms into the sponge cake to start. Once baked our cake will be painted with a noyaux almond soak to provide rich moisture, then layered with chunky jam and whipped coconut cream add classic flavor. Finally, it is enrobed in a cement-colored black sesame Swiss buttercream laced with a touch of licorice for a play on peanut butter and jam nostalgia. The buttercream is striking visually and on the tongue. You can use any salt preserved blossom in this cake or omit and replace with salt. Why go the extra step use blooms? The petals floating throughout the cake make it magical and instantly stick in your memories. Or swap out for a delicate black tea leaf for the look of natural sprinkles.

Cake parts can be made 3-4 days in advance. Cake is most stable built 1-2 days in advance. Once built, it keeps in the fridge 3-4 days. Buttercream recipe for Free Subscribers, full sheet cake for Paid Subscribers.

Black Sesame Licorice Swiss Buttercream

Makes 2 pints of buttercream.

240g egg whites

500g cane sugar

1300g butter, room temperature

300g black sesame paste

10g black licorice oil

5g salt

To Make: In a medium sauce pot add two inches of water and bring to s simmer over medium heat. Pour egg whites and sugar into a stand mixer bowl and place over your pot of water. Stir with a whisk, bringing egg whites and sugar to 161 F. Pull egg white mixture from heat, put it to whip in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on medium high. And watch the magic of transformation, air captured in a delicate protein web becoming meringue. Once it has tripled in volume, add in soft butter a little at a time. Don’t worry about holding it too long, we want the butter to be a little warm, so it combines easily. Allow it to continue to mix till it looks like waves breaking. For an incredible smooth and silky finishing layer for your cakes continue whisking, till the top smooth like a pond and only the tracks of the whisk are visible. Add the black sesame paste.

Watch this spin, hypnotically marbling colors together, till it’s grey with luster from fat bouncing light. Add a few drops of black licorice oil and salt to pull it into balance. Grab a spoon, taste and adjust.

Black Sesame Cherry Cake