Any celebrations coming up guys?? This is a perfect cake for all those occasions! The Drunk Chocolate Cherry Cake is perfect to embrace the winters too. The two-tier Drunk Chocolate Cherry Cake is a delicious blend of dark chocolate and candied cherries that were previously soaked in Brandy for 3-4 days. The layers are then held together with a dark chocolate ganache. And I also wrapped a white chocolate cage around it for some added drama :P.
The cake tasted delicious and moist. And the combination of dark chocolate with the brandy soaked candied cherries was just so amazing. It was such a huge cake that even after taking it to work, sending some to my sister’s office and packing some for my brother’s girlfriend, We still had leftovers for days :D. But none of us were complaining!
The Drunk Chocolate Cherry Cake could easily replace your traditional christmas rum cake too. And it’s simple! And it’s eggless! You love me, right :D.
I would give myself full marks for the idea and recipe of this cake. But the finishing still needs a lot of refinement. The lack of finesse could be due to my impatience on seeing and smelling the cakes fresh out of the oven! The house smells like heaven and I want to bite in immediately :P.
The rich dark chocolate marries the candied cherries beautifully. And each bite is intense and sinful. Lovely! The Drunk Chocolate Cherry Cake was actually baked for my birthday in september. But I never got the time to post it for you guys. Nevertheless, I am happy to bring the recipe now, since the weather is perfect for this dark ecstacy!
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup 2 tbsp. Cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¾ tbsp. Instant coffee
- ¾ tbsp. Baking soda
- ¾ tbsp. Baking powder
- 2 cups candied cherries and 1 cup chopped walnuts soaked in ¾ cup brandy for 3-4 days
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp. Vanilla essence
- ¾ cup warm milk
- 350 gms Dark chocolate
- 300 gms cream
- White chocolate curls
- Chocolate chips
- Fresh cherries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Butter and dust two 7 inch springform cake tins.
- Sift all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. To this add the brandy soaked cherries and walnuts.
- Make a well in the center and add the cream, oil, vanilla essence and warm milk.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry mixture to form a homogenous batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cake tins and bake for 55-60 minutes or until firm to touch.
- Take out of the oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes before inverting on the wire rack.
- Allow to cool completely and then cut into two even layers each.
- Now use a large round cookie cutter, katori etc to cut a smaller circle out of two layers of cake. So now you have two 7 inch cake layers and two cake layers that are slightly smaller in diameter and will form the upper tier of the cake.
- Pour the hot but not boiling cream over the chopped dark chocolate.
- Let it sit for 2-3 minutes before mixing into a smooth ganache.
- Cool before using.
- Place one 7 inch cake layer on the serving plate, top with a generous helping of ganache. Top with next 7 inch cake layer and then ganache. Repeat for smaller circles.
- Frost the entire cake assembly with dark chocolate ganache. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Garnish with white chocolate curls, chocolate chips and fresh cherries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Cut out parchment paper borders to fit around the base cake layer.
- Pour melted white chocolate over the parchment paper and spread in an even layer. After few minutes, put spoonfuls of leftover chocolate ganache over the white chocolate and create swirls with a toothpick.
- Place the parchment paper flat in the fridge for 10-15 minutes until just set. Now, take out and place snugly around the cake, pressing into place gently.
- Leave the cake in the fridge for 20-25 minutes for chocolate to completely harden and then gently peel off the parchment paper.
The Drunk Chocolate Cherry Cake is perfect in many ways. The candied cherries and dark chocolate taste amazing together and the brandy ticks the right boxes too ;). Bake it soon :).
