All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Friday, November 28, 2014

snowy dark cherry and chocolate cake

We have heaps and heaps of snow outside -14 inches when I measured yesterday, but of course there are drifts and mountains more from shoveling and snowblowing.  But the sun is up and it looks very, very pretty.  And I drifted snow on this chocolate and cherry cake, (confectioner's sugar, of course), looking equally as pretty against the dark chocolate.

The recipe comes from Life's a Feast, and the first time I made it in a bundt pan, it stuck to the mold, even though I had buttered and greased it heavily.  The second time it stuck again, so this third time, I halved the recipe and used my trusty heavy aluminum 8"x2" cake pan from Wilton.  Perfect.


Chocolate and Dark Cherry cake :

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 extra large egg, at room temperature

7/8's of a cup of King Arthur flour
1 and a half tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, this time I used Hershey's
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch kosher salt

scant 1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup frozen dark unsweetened cherries, thawed ten minutes and sprinkled with 1 T. sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Toll House)

Cream the butter and sugar for five minutes, then add the egg and continue to beat for five minutes.
Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl, stir, set aside.
Measure the milk and vanilla in a glass and set aside.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in two batches, mix again, then add the cherries and chocolate chips.  Stir the batter with a spoon or spatula - it should be smooth and creamy.


Fill the cake pan evenly and bake 25 minutes.  The cake should be mostly firm when you gently press the top with your finger.
Remove cake from oven to a cooling rack, and let cool at least 20 minutes.
Turn the cake, still in the pan, upside down and tap the pan gently with a rolling pin, flip it right side up and run a dull knife around the edge.
Hold your breath and flip the cake onto a rack, place another rack on top gently, then flip the cake right side up.  If there are pieces stuck to the pan, remove with a dull knife and stick onto the cake while the pieces are still warm.

Sift confectioner's sugar over the cake when cooled, and serve.

Happy snow day!








4 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

It must be a real treat Katrina..

Glad your power held out!

katrina said...

Oh, it was fun to be puttering around all day, Nana, it helped me keep my mind off those little ones out in Minnesota, and the memory of my sister. Lost power for 1/2 hour late afternoon, so lucky! Lots of people I saw today still have no power....

Barb said...

Katrina, I missed wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving but I do hope you had a happy day. The snow photos are truly beautiful - such a lot if snow!! We have none.

And that chocolate cherry cake - oh my! You always share the best recipes. I'm sure I will have to give this a go this holiday season.

katrina said...

Hi Barb - I hope you and yours had a great Turkey Day! As you saw, we had a white Thanksgiving, makes me wonder if this is going to be an extra snowy winter - better snow than minus 18 and no snow!
Delighted you liked that little cake and many thanks for swinging by!