Sour Cherry & Mascarpone Pound Cake

Last night my husband and I took our kids to dinner at Ruby's diner (a family favorite) and then to see Cars 2. We had lots of fun but taking a 4 & 2 year old out for the evening can be a little stressful at times. When we got home I wanted to relax so I tucked the kids in bed, made a pot of coffee and got out this recipe. It isn't an overly hard recipe but it does take time so I would not attempt this one at 9 pm again.  The recipe I followed is from Domenica Marchetti's cook book Big Night In http://www.domenicacooks.com/2011/05/cakewalk/

Sour Cherry-Mascarpone Pound Cake:

1 1/2 cups ( 3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more to grease the pan
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more to flour the pan
2 cups fresh sour cherries, pitted and halved
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces mascarpone or sour cream, at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan and set it aside
In a small bowl, mix the cherries with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Let the mixture steep while you prepare the batter for the cake.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Set aside.
Put the 1 1/2 cups butter in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat briefly on medium speed to soften. Add the remaining 3 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat at high speed until light and airy, 5 full minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Change the speed to medium and alternately add the flour-salt mixture and the mascarpone and sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until incorporated.
Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup that collects in the bowl. With a rubber or silicone spatula, fold the cherries into the batter.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour & 15 minutes.
While the cake is baking, put the reserved cherry syrup in a small saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Strain and reserve the liquid.
When the cake is done, place the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan. While it is still warm, brush the top and sides with the warm cherry syrup. The cake will absorb the syrup. Let the cake cool to room temperature.
To serve, transfer the cake to a decorative platter or cake stand. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

I was very happy with how it turned out, so was my husband. I did have to tweak a few things because I didn't have the exact ingredients. I substituted bleached all purpose flour for the unbleached, i used 6 Tbs. of salted butter because I only had 2 sticks & 2 Tbs. of unsalted butter, I used 4 ounces of mascarpone and 4 ounces of sour cream. I also unfortunately do not have fresh sour cherries available near me so I used the canned Oregon Tart Cherries in water (not syrup). It is a great recipe and I will definitely make it again.