This decadent cake is a Christmas classic. Frozen cherries — layered in the cake and made into a quick compote for spooning on top — make it even more special.
Ingredients
For Cake:
- Cooking spray
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp light rum
- 1 ½ cups frozen cherries, thawed
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For cake:
For cherry sauce and topping:
- 3 cups frozen cherries, thawed
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- ½ (4 oz) semisweet chocolate bar
Steps
- For cake, preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray, then dust with some cocoa powder. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a liquid measuring cup, combine sour cream, milk and rum until smooth. Set aside. Drain cherries in a colander. Transfer to a paper–towel-lined plate and pat very dry.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until combined and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla.
- On low speed, add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add milk mixture and continue to mix until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture and beat until combined.
- Scrape half of batter into prepared pan, then add cherries on top. Top with remaining batter. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool 20 minutes. Run a knife along sides of Bundt pan to loosen cake. Invert cake onto a serving plate or cake platter and continue to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, for cherry sauce, in a medium saucepan, combine cherries, sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until juices have thickened and cherries are soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Using a vegetable peeler, shave the edge of chocolate bar to make wide curls. Spoon cherry sauce over cooled cake and sprinkle chocolate shavings over top.
This recipe is
- Vegetarian
- Nut-free
Tags
- Nut Free
- vegetarian
- Holiday
- Entertaining