Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake #recipe @Lucyburdette

LUCY BURDETTE: It used to be that I'd always get a box of chocolate-covered cherries for both Christmas and my birthday. Not the fancy, gourmet kind, the ones that spurt liquid cherry when you bite into them--mmm! I'd keep them in the fridge and enjoy one a day until they were gone. (And hey, what happened to that tradition anyway?)

Flash forward: My wonderful uncle has been sending me a huge box of dried Michigan cherries for Christmas the last two years, so I’m always on the lookout for recipes to use them in. When I saw a recipe in the King Arthur flour catalog for double cherry chocolate cake, I knew I had to try it! I've made the usual tweaks for lower sodium baking. And though I usually don't buy maraschino cherries, I sacrificed for this cake...

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried sweetened tart cherries, chopped
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) soft butter
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons low sodium baking powder 
• 2 teaspoons no sodium baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup cocoa, good quality
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries, chopped
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Chop the dried cherries and soak them in the milk. 

While they soak, add the butter, eggs, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, vanilla, cocoa, and flour and one cup of the milk into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium for about 3 minutes. 

Scrape the bowl down, add the rest of the milk and the cherry juice and then mix another two minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips, and both kinds of cherries.

Bake in a well-greased and floured bundt pan for around 50 minutes at 350. (Mine took an hour.) Test with a wooden skewer (or piece of uncooked spaghetti)—it should come out dry. The top will be cracked.


Cool for ten minutes and then remove from the pan. When cool, you could sprinkle with powdered sugar, or serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if you like...



Lucy Burdette writes foodie mysteries set in Key West.


DEATH ON THE MENU, the 8th Key West food critic mystery will be out on August 7. Here's a pre-order the book link from Amazon--and here's a link to preorder a hard copy from RJ Julia in CT, where you'll be able to get a signed copy. Or you can order it from Books and Books in Key West, or call Suzanne Orchard at Key West Island Bookstore ((305) 294-2904)--she'll be delighted to order you a copy! Or really, wherever books are sold...