One of our biggest supporters is a lovely woman who lives in Arkoma in the house her husband and father built, reads voraciously and is the best Southern cook I know. 

She also happens to be 90-something, so her recipe box is overflowing.  One of Fern Holmes' favorite desserts is her Cherry Surprise cake.  We tried it and now we're converts.

Cherry Surprise Cake

by Fern Holmes

1 cup Wesson or Crisco oil

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour (measure after it’s sifted).  If you don’t have a sifter, just pour your flour in a bowl, use a wire whisk to stir it up.  Now you’re ready to measure

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

4 eggs

1 can cherry pie filling, 1 lb. size

Mix oil and sugar thoroughly, beating with electric mixer.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until fluffy.

Add vanilla.

Sift flour, measure, then add the baking powder and salt, then add this to the oil mixture gradually.  Beat until mixed, about two minutes. 

Divide batter in half.

Topping:
½ cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Grease a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan.  Pour ½ of the batter over the bottom of pan.  Batter will be stiff.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.   Sprinkle ¼ cup of the mixture over batter.

Sweeten pie filling just to taste, and spoon filling over the batter.

Add the ½ of batter over cherries.  Sprinkle the remaining mixture of sugar and cinnamon over the top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes, or until done.  (I bake mine for 45 minutes, and that’s when my cake is done.)