Saturday, February 12, 2011

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake


Love is all around!!! What better way to celebrate St.Valentine's day than with a deep dark chocolate cake recipe, with a luscious chocolate and cherry Kirsch filling oozing out with every bite.

Serving suggestion:  A dusting of icing sugar and a dollop of the chocolate cherry filling

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup Dutch dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cup water

Chocolate Cherry Filling:
19 ounce jar red sour cherries pitted and its juice
1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
1-2 tablespoon Kirsch liqueur
125 grams dark Belgium chocolate (1 cup chocolate disks or pieces)

Method:
Filling: Drain the cherries, reserving the juice. In a small saucepan add the cornstarch and whisk in the cherry juice. Cook on medium/low heat, whisking to prevent lumps and the juice from sticking as it thickens. Remove from the heat and with a wooden spoon stir in the chocolate and Kirsch liqueur. Fold in the cherries. Set aside.


 
CAKE: In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, Dutch dark cocoa, baking powder,baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl beat two eggs and whisk in the sugar, oil, water and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the flour/cocoa mixture and mix to combine. The batter will be somewhat liquidy.  Pour the batter into prepared muffin tins (makes 18 regular) or 6 mini bundt pans, half way. Drop a large spoonful of the chocolate cherry mixture on the center of the batter. Spoon on more batter on top of the cherry filling (a heaping tablespoon or two). Bake in a pre-heated 350º F oven for 20 minutes.


  

16 comments:

  1. Oh WOW - All that gooey chocolate dripping from the middle is quite a turn on - LOVE IT!

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  2. ...and Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Anna!
    Wow! You're all "decked" out, luscious dark chocolate, with the cherries... ooey, gooey, amazing cake, such a beautiful photo of it, and the LOVE photo, as well!
    Absolutely loving it!!!

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  3. Yum, that cake is amazing. Happy Valentine's Day. I'd like to invite you to come by and link this up to Sweets for a Saturday #4. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-saturday-4.html

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  4. I would still love a large slice of cherry chocolate cake even though we don't celebrate V-Day. :-))
    Angie

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  5. Wow! Absolutely amazing and delicious looking. Nicely done Anna! Now I just have to see if I can find some sour cherries. :)

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  6. lovely recipe Anna! happy valentine's day!

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  7. Muy tentador es el chocolate y tu receta de AMOR está exquisita,que linda se ve la foto y la celebración de San Valentín ,Bravo!!!muy lindo,abrazos.

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  8. Your post is making me crave some warm and melting chocolate right now! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. I hope you are having a day of sweet treats and love. Happy Valentine's!

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  9. Anna, this cake looks INSANE! I love the way sour cherries offset the intensity of all that chocolate- a perfect combination.

    By the way, you just commented on my old blog- the one where I was still bemoaning my morning sickness? Well, that's over! I've got a 6 month old gorgeous boy, and a new blog!

    Cheers and see you soon, Angela

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  10. You just won my heart. And I've been looking at desserts all evening. But this combination made my heart skip a beat.

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  11. What a gorgeous cake!Love chocolate-cherry filling, YUM!!!

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  12. omg...this one is richer than the valentine...lovely. thank you for sharing!!

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  13. Wow this cake looks super yummm....

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  14. This cake is fabulous! The sourness of the cherry, the strength of the liqueur and the purity of the dark chocolate = the taste of passion, that's why I named it Mon Chéri!!! I've translated this recipe and shared it with my friends, hope you don't mind. Of course, I mentioned where I took it from!
    Best wishes from Serbia!
    Radmila

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  15. I've almost forgot to post the link : http://www.coolinarika.com/preview/recept/mon-chri/
    I made it in 9" and 8" round pan! Next time I'll make it in muffin tins :)
    Thank you!
    Radmila

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