re: This year's chocolate cherry cake photos for Paige

An old recipe we make occasionally, but always at this time of the year. Very rich cake. If you crave chocolate, like cherries and don't like this one, I can't help you get the monkey off your back.

Chocolate Cherry Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Icing.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cherry Cake:

- Devil's food cake mix You could make your own cake from scratch, but a cake mix works fine.
- 3 Eggs
- 1/3 cup Canola oil
- 1 can Cherry pie filling.
- Butter and sugar for cake pan
- Tube cake pan or (2) - single layer cake pans

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Ganache Icing

- 1/2 cup Heavy cream
- 12 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate

Instructions

Chocolate Cherry Cake

This cake can also be made in a tube pan, sliced in half to make 2 layers. individual pans work best.

- Coat the inside surfaces of 2 single layer cake pans with butter. Dust the pan with sugar.
- The cake takes 3 eggs and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Add to bowl with cake mix and mix well
- Add 2/3 of the cherry pie filling to the cake mix.
- Mix the batter for 3 minutes. The mixer will break apart the cherries, but that is fine. The batter will be very thick.
- Add the batter to the 2 prepped cake pans.
- The batter will be very thick. The pans will need to be thumped against the counter in order to level them up before placing into the oven (350 degrees F or 325 if using dark pans.
- Check the cake at 35 minutes with a wooden pick by inserting it into the cake. If the pick does not come out clean, return the cake to oven.
- Check again after 5 more minutes. If the pick comes out clean, the cake is done.
- Oven to oven cooking times vary. Check every 5 minutes after 35 minutes and continue the baking until the pick comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool on a rack for 10 minutes when the layers come out of the oven before removing them from the pan.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

- While the cake is in the oven, make the dark chocolate ganache by adding a half cup of heavy cream to a microwave bowl.
- The heavy cream goes into the bowl and the bowl into the microwave at high power until the cream comes to a boil (about 2 1/2 minutes in our microwave) You must watch the cream in the microwave carefully because within seconds after coming to a boil, the cream will boil over and create a huge mess in your microwave.
- As soon as the cream boils, remove it from the microwave and add the dark chocolate chips. DO NOT STIR THE CHIPS OR THE CREAM!
- Cover the bowl with a plate and set it aside for 15 minutes. Do not remove the cover during the 15 minute holding time.
- When the full 15 minutes is up, remove the top and stir the chocolate by hand until it is uniform and smooth. This will take a couple of minutes.
- At this point the ganache will still be warm. It will be very thin and runny.
- Set it aside to cool. When it cools to room temperature, it will become very thick.

You can do the ganache in a pan on the stove top. heat the cream to a low boil, remove from heat. add the chips, cover with a lid and do the rest the same.

Icing the cake

- By this time, the cake should have cooled.
- This cake works best with a layer of cherries between the cake layers. It is necessary to save 1/3 of the cherry filling for this layer of cherry filling.

I recommend this - If you like, you can use 2 cans of cherries and put 1 can into the cake and the cherries from the second can between the layers

- The cherries from the pie filling are spread between the layers, to provide a nice inner layer of cherries. (or filling)
- The top layer is then placed on top of the bottom layer. It can be flipped over if desired to provide a flat top on the finished cake.
- After the cake has cooled it is crumb coated with a thin layer of ganache.
- After allowing the crumb coat to cool for 30 minutes, the cake is iced with the remaining ganache.
- The cherry and chocolate of this cake go very well with a cup of coffee.