This is a recipe I have had tucked away for awhile. I do like chocolate covered cherries and this is about as close as you can get to finding all that flavor in the form of a cake.
Between the big flavor and the wonderful texture, this is one is not easily forgotten about. The great texture can be attributed to the coconut milk and vegetable oil. There is no butter in the cake. Even a small slice can satisfy, with a hefty amount of cocoa laced with with cherry brandy, chunks of glace cherries and sweet coconut. These same flavors are part of the assembly as well. Chocolate ganache covers the top and sides of cake while the other flavors make up a buttercream filling that sandwich the two layers together.
There are a lot of people employed where I work and it is good that there was more than enough cake for our department. There were some intent stares from not in the department when this cake was being sliced so I could not help to offer them a piece!
Cherry Ripe Cake
adapted from Ledelicieux
Ingredients/Cake
1 3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup cherry brandy
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
200 grams or about 1 cup chopped glace cherries
Ingredients/Buttercream Filling
125 grams or about 1/2 cup butter
2 tsp cherry brandy
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
200 grams or about 1 cup chopped glace cherries
red food coloring (optional)
Ingredients /Chocolate Ganache
1 tbs cherry brandy
300 grams or about 1 3/4 cups chopped chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
Additional topping (optional)
1 cherry ripe chocolate bar, chopped
fresh cherries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" round cake pans by buttering the interior and lining the bottom with parchment paper and buttering the face up side of the parchment..
For the cake, place the eggs in a small bowl and whisk until whites are completely blended with yolks. Then stir in the cherry brandy, oil, vanilla extract and coconut milk. Set mixture aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then mix in the sugar. Turn the mixer on low speed and let run while slowly adding the wet mixture in 1/4 cup increments, scraping down the sides of bowl between each addition. Lastly, add the coconut and the glace cherries, all while continuing to let the mixer run on low speed.
Once all is evenly distributed into the batter, pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans. Place in oven and bake until tester comes out clean. Baking time should range between 35 to 40 minutes. The cakes should cool in the pans for 30 minutes and then transferred to a rack to finish cooling.
Start making the filling by beating the butter until light and smooth. Then sift the powdered sugar into the same bowl and beat until mixture is fluffy and light. If using the food coloring, add it and beat until icing has an even color with no streaks. Lastly, stir in the cherry brandy and fold in the glace cherries and coconut.
Remove the parchment from the cake. Place one cake layer on a cake stand. Place parchment or wax paper all around the split between the cake and the plate. Then smooth the filling over the the top of one of the cake layers and stack the other cake layer on top.
Place the chocolate and cream into a small saucepan over low heat. Once it is all melted and smooth, stir in the cherry brandy. Let ganache cool for about 5 minutes Pour ganache over the center of the cake, letting it fan outward and drip down sides of the cake. Use a spatula to even out the ganache on the top and sides of the cake. Once the ganache is set, remove the wax paper from between the cake plate and cake.
To decorate further, recipe suggests to use fresh cherries on top or chopped cherry ripe chocolate bars.
**LAST YEAR: Ginny Bee Bkfst Cake**