This recipe was the 1974 Pillsbury Bake-Off Grand Prize Winner. It's incredibly moist and surprisingly subtle in it's cherry flavor. I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate cakes, but this recipe is nice twist on average chocolate cake and the glaze is like a thin home-style ganache. I made mine in a bundt pan and pushed back the baking time accordingly. I recommend serving it with a dollop of whip cream. Special thanks to Rachael and the Cake Mix Doctor for the recipe.
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
Cake:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix, or devil's food mix with pudding
1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist a 13x9" baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber sptatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack while you prepare the glaze.
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 package (6 ounces, or 1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
Place the sugar, butter, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. When the chips have melted and the glaze is smooth, pour it over the warm cake so that it covers the entire surface. The glaze will be thin but will firm up. Cool the cake for 20 minutes more before cutting it into squares and serving.
NOTE: Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze the cake, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving.
My mom used to make this cake back in the day. Thanks for bringing it back into my life.
Posted by: Kenny | September 10, 2007 at 08:57 PM
This was fantastic. I made it in the bundt pan as well as I find plain 9x13 cakes uninteresting in their presentation.
It was rich and moist and the flavour was great.
Thanks for the recipe.
Posted by: Kimberly | September 20, 2008 at 07:29 AM