Prepare a Bundt pan with butter and sugar: With your hand, smear the softened butter generously in the pan, making sure to cover the entire inside of the pan. Then, coat the entire inside with granulated sugar.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

DOUGH:

In a large bowl, cut the butter into the flour with your hands. The butter should be pea-sized when finished.

Add the milk, eggs, yeast, sugar and salt; mix until combined. Then, mix for 2 more minutes. The dough will be very sticky, but try to mix as best you can.

Cover the dough and let it rise for 2 hours, or until almost doubled in size.

When the dough is just about ready, prepare the filling and fruit: In a medium-size bowl, mix all the ingredients together to make a paste.

In a separate medium-size bowl, mix together ¼ cup sugar, cherries and zest (if using).

ASSEMBLY:

Put the dough onto a well-floured surface and push it into a 16- by 10-inch rectangle. The dough will be very tender. Spread the filling edge to edge over the dough.

Roll the dough up starting from the bottom edge to the top. After the dough is rolled, you should have a 16-inch log of rolled dough.

Distribute the cherries evenly on the bottom of the Bundt pan, then sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup sugar over them. Gingerly pick up the log and put it on top of the cherries in the Bundt pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise until the dough almost reaches the top of the Bundt pan, or until about doubled in size. If crunched for time, you can put the Bundt in the refrigerator overnight and bake it the next day.

Bake the Bundt for 40–45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 190°.

After baking, leave the Bundt in the pan for 10 minutes, then take it out.

MAKE THE GLAZE:

Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar with the milk. After the Bundt has cooled completely, drizzle the glaze over it.