Cherry Chocolate Cake Experiment

I decided last minute to attend church out of town so that I could visit good friends and I wanted to bring them a cake.  It had been a long day out of town and I still had several loads of laundry to do, dishes to wash and a ton of hamburger to fry up and freeze.  I needed the recipe to be easy and not require a trip to the store.   I looked at my ingredients and decided to make a chocolate cake with maraschino cherries.  I googled and searched Pinterest for a recipe, but in the short time I looked, I only found recipes using cherry pie filling, not actual cherries.  So, I texted my friend Jenna, whom I believe to be a direct decedent of Laura Ingalls and told her what I was planning.  She thought it would work and I got started. 

 

Dump into a large bowl the chocolate cake mix, cherries (reserve the cherry juice!), oil and egg as called for on the box.  I used a 16oz jar of cherries and threw them in whole.  They were awfully big cherries and I may or may not cut them in half next time. 

 

Poor the reserved cherry juice into a measuring cup and add water to equal the amount of water called for on the cake mix box.  Add to the cake mix mixture and stir/beat as instructed on the box.  Bake according to box directions. 

 

 

I used two 8” rounds as I wanted to share the cake with two friends.  I was worried about them overflowing and one got really close to the edge.  They baked A LOT longer than instructed.  One round baked an additional 9 minutes, the other 15 minutes!  I checked and did have the oven preheated and to the correct temperature.  

 

I let cool and texted Jenna again to ask how to frost and transport them.  Everyone needs a Jenna and a Dede.  I thank God for blessing me with these two wonderful Christian friends!    Jenna suggested cutting off the top (as I had described them as puffy) and frosting them, which got me to thinking…. How about if I just flip them out into an 8” square pan, which I had on hand and bonus; those pans came with plastic lids!  YES!  I love it when something works out!  Here’s one of the cakes after I flipped it into the square pan.  See the cherries?

YUM!

 

I frosted using store bought milk chocolate frosting.  I could have done the sides, but I just frosted the top.  I’m finding for myself that I like cake more than frosting and a little frosting goes a long ways.  I know not all feel the same. 

 

 

I had to have a small sampling to see that it was good enough to share. Both couples have reported that the cake was good and moist. 

I decorated the tops using this old Tupperware cake decorating tool.  I found it while organizing my kitchen and think my mother might have given it to me at some point.  Next time if I make this cake as I did this time, I’d put 3 cherries in the center.  I think that would have been pretty.   Although who am I kidding, I probably will try a different recipe because I love trying something new! 

 

Speaking of chocolate…  I pinched my finger in the saw horse three weeks ago.  A blood blister formed and eventually drained, but the spot remains.  I’m finally used to it, but there for a while I frequently found myself trying to wash or lick off what I believed to be chocolate and/or freaking out when I saw it while cross stitching thinking that it was chocolate that I might get on my stitched piece!