This Drunken Cherry Cake is anything but ordinary. It's moist, incredibly flavorful, and drenched in a decadently delicious mixture of Dulce de Leche, cherries, and rum.
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Why This Recipe Stands Out
Who doesn't love a good cake? And this drunken cherry cake is a real winner! Here's why:
- Super Rich: The combination of the chocolate cake, dulce the leche, and cherries make this cake incredibly rich and decadently delicious.
- Moist from Dulce de Leche: The dulce de leche not only adds a delicious caramel flavor to the cake but also keeps it incredibly moist.
- Chock Full of Cherries: The cake is packed with cherries, giving it a burst of sweet and tangy flavor in every bite.
- Soaked in Rum: The combination of alcohol-soaked cherries and chocolate is a match made in heaven.
- Perfect for Any Occasion: This cake is so delicious that it can be enjoyed at any special occasion, from birthdays to holidays. It's that good!
- Easy to Make: Despite its impressive appearance, this cake is surprisingly easy to make.
Key Ingredients
- Cocoa Powder – It will add a rich, chocolatey flavor to our chocolate cake base.
- Pitted Cherries in Light Syrup - We use Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries for a sweet-tart flavor and a moist, tender crumb.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk - This ingredient, along with melted unsalted butter and cognac or rum, forms a lusciously rich and boozy cherry filling.
- Dark Chocolate - We use it to make a smooth, velvety ganache and to finish off the cake with elegant chocolate shavings.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are some of our favorite variations and substitution ideas:
- Fruit: We love the combination of chocolate and cherries in this cake, but feel free to get creative with the fruit filling. Raspberries, strawberries, or even cranberries would work beautifully in this recipe.
- Alcohol-Free: If you're making it for kids, you can totally omit the alcohol part; the cake will still taste amazingly delicious.
- Chocolate Ganache: This cake is all about the chocolate, so feel free to play with the ganache. Try white chocolate for a sweet twist, or milk chocolate for a milder flavor.
How to Make Drunken Cherry Cake
Step 1: To make the Dulce de Leche, boil a can of condensed milk for 3 hours.
Step 2: For the cake, sift dry ingredients. Whisk wet ingredients and pour into the dry ingredients. Add hot water and mix.
Step 3: To make the filling, mix Dulce de Leche, cherries, cognac, and melted butter. Cut and hollow out the cake. Mix the insides with the filling.
Step 4: For the ganache, melt butter in a bowl over a pot of water. Add cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and chocolate. Mix until smooth.
Step 5: To assemble the cake, fill the hollow cake with the filling. Cover with the cake top. Pour the ganache over the cake and sprinkle chocolate shavings on top.
Step 6: For the frosting, beat softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk. Pipe buttercream roses on the cake and garnish each rose with a cherry. Enjoy!
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend using pitted cherries in light syrup for this recipe. We used Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries, but you can use any similar variety available at your local store.
The name "drunken" comes from the fact that the cherries are soaked in cognac or rum, giving them a slightly boozy flavor. This flavor infuses the cake and adds a delicious twist to the classic chocolate and cherry combination.
The cake can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure it is stored in an airtight container to maintain its freshness.
Recipe
Drunken Cherry Cake
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake
- 3 eggs
- 2 ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 ½ cup milk
- ¾ cup neutral oil like grapeseed
- 3 cups flour
- ¾ cup hot boiled water
- 13 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon + ⅔ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
For the filling
- 4 cups pitted cherries in light syrup drained ( I used Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries) + 9 cherries for decoration
- 1 can 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 8 oz unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup cognac or rum
For chocolate ganache
- 100 grams dark chocolate
- 50 grams unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
For chocolate shavings
- 2 oz dark chocolate bar
For the frosting
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ stick softened unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
To make Dulce de Leche* (see notes)
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Remove the label from a can of condensed milk and carefully place a can into the water. Cook on a medium-low heat for 3 hours. Make sure the can is covered with water at all times. Remove from the water and cool before making a cake filling.
To make the chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a round 9 inch cake pan with a parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and sugar.
- In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add oil and milk. Mix well.
- Gently pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. The batter should be quite thick resembling a density of a sour cream.
- Splash in hot boiled water. Stir together until just combined and bake for about 1 hr 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out dry. Remove from the oven and transfer on a wire rack to cool.
To make the filling
- In a large mixing bowl, combine Dulce de Leche, cherries, cognac or rum and melted butter.
- Cut off the thin top layer of a cake and set aside.
- Carefully spoon out the inside of the cake and transfer it to Dulce de Leche mixture. Mix everything well. Make sure the borders and bottom of the cake are not less than ½ inch thick.
To assemble the cake
- Fill the empty cake with the filling carefully pressing to fill in any gaps. Cover with a cake top and press again making sure not to break the cake top.
To make chocolate ganache
- Fill a medium pot with a few inches of water and put it on a medium heat. Place a heat-proof bowl over the pot with water and add butter.
- When butter has melted, add cocoa powder and confectioners' sugar. Whisk it all together.
- Add corn starch and mix until no lumps remain.
- Add chocolate and wait until it melts.
- Remove ganache from the heat and let it cool for a minute or two.
- Using a metal icing spatula, cover your cake with the ganache.
To make chocolate shavings
- Using a vegetable peeler, shave along the length of the chocolate bar to form chocolate curls.
- While ganache on a cake is still wet, scatter chocolate shavings all over the top and sides of the cake.
To make frosting
- In a medium bowl combine softened butter, sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk. Using a hand electric mixer, beat the frosting on a medium speed until nice and smooth. Add the remaining tablespoon of milk until frosting is fluffy and smooth.
- Using 1M Wilton decorating tip, pipe 9 buttercream roses onto the cake. Garnish each rose with a cherry.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Frosting recipe first appeared on http://www.twosisterscrafting.com/
Nutrition
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Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
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