In my previous post, I talked about how German Chocolate Cake has nothing to do with Germany. With this post I’m bringing you a chocolate cake that’s decidedly German. It’s a cherry chocolate pound cake, to be exact. This is not the definitive German cake that’s chocolate because there are just so many different types, but it combines two of my favourite things – dark chocolate and cherries.
I feel like this is a very simple cake to make in comparison to some others on my blog (I’m looking at you, Marble Cake). The prep work of gathering the ingredients, chopping the chocolate and greasing the pan, takes longer than the actual mixing. That’s just 3 steps and then pouring the batter into the bundt. Simple. And right now, I love simple. Nevermind that there’s also some glaze drizzle work involved because I love that part. To me it’s like painting the cake with dripping chocolate.
Can’t believe that I’m doing the photos for this post on one of the hottest days of the year so far. It’s over 90 degrees, we have no AC (almost no one has one in their homes in Western Washington and I’m sure I’ve mentioned before) and I’m baking a cake in the oven. Tomorrow isn’t supposed to be any cooler, so today it is. Almost pushed it off but I figured might as well. As my husband says “Unicorn Punch!”. With us that means, charge ahead and do something even if it seems difficult or you really just don’t wanna. It’s the unicorn that’s punching, not it being punched, in case you were worried about the unicorn.
Back to cherry chocolate pound cake! Or could we call it a cherry chocolate punch cake…? 😀
I’ll leave the punny humour to the guys in my family.
Cherry Chocolate Pound Cake
(Kirsch-Schokoladenkuchen)
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 12 oz of Cherries (I use frozen)
- 3 oz of Chocolate Pudding Mix
- 2 cups of Flour
- 3.5 tsp of Baking Powder
- 3/4 cup of Sugar
- 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
- 5 Eggs (room temperature is best)
- 1/2 cup of Buttermilk
- 1/2 + 1/8 cup of Canola Oil
- 3.5 oz of Chopped Dark Chocolate
Simple Glaze:
- 4 oz of Chopped Dark Chocolate
- 1 + 1/2 tsp of Canola Oil
Equipment:
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- Bundt Pan
- Cooling Rack
For the chopped chocolate that’s folded into the batter, you can substitute dark (or milk) chocolate chips or chunks. It helps if you chop it a bit first or else they all fall to the bottom. It also never hurts to use the full 4 oz bar.
When using frozen cherries, make sure to thaw them in advance and drain as much liquid as possible. If you leave the cherries very wet, the moisture can create pockets in the cake around the cherries. This is not a bad thing. They can just fall out when you’re slicing.
While the original recipe calls for 3 oz of chocolate pudding mix, I sometimes add whole box. Who wants 0.9 oz of pudding mix leftover? It makes for a moister cake.
Lastly, I make a substitute buttermilk with milk (nut, cow or otherwise) and white vinegar. The ratio is 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk, or 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar for 1/2 cup of milk for this recipe.
Ingredients gathered for the first mixing step – flour, baking soda and chocolate pudding mix.
Looks like an ad but it’s not. I’m just pretty excited to have found an affordable pudding mix that’s more natural. No artificial flavours or food dye. Yay!
Did you know that German baking powder is different than baking powder in North America? Germans use single-acting baking powder, whereas we use double-acting baking powder. If you ever need to substitute double-acting for single-acting, the ratio is 2/3 teaspoons per 1 teaspoon. Though, you can often sub 1:1 without too many problems. There’s more info here. Also, a German packet of baking powder contains 5 teaspoons.
Ingredients for the next mixing step – sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract, oil and eggs.
Ingredients for the last mixing step – drained cherries and chocolate.
As you can tell, I subbed in some dark chocolate chunks and chips.
I do this all in my stand mixer bowl. I take it off the stand and add the flour, pudding mix and baking powder.
Whisk it together until thoroughly incorporated.
Add the sugar, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract and eggs into the dry mixture.
I reattach the bowl to the stand mixer and begin mixing it slowly on the lowest setting. Once it’s mostly wet, turn the speed to the highest setting and mix for 2 minutes.
The batter should be all smooth and drippy when it’s done.
Add the cherries and chocolate to the batter. Fold in gently.
Cherry chocolate pound cake batter’s all ready to go. Wasn’t that easy?
Greased bundt pan is ready to receive the batter. As you can see, I’m using baking spray again.
Note about baking spray – I’ve made this cake 3 times now in my trial runs, 1 with butter & flour to prepare the bundt for the batter and 2 with baking spray. I’m pretty convinced that using coating it with butter and than dusting it with flour is a better option. Both times with baking spray, the cake releases from the pan beautifully but the shape is little wonky. You’ll see further down the line of photos. I feel like this has to do with the baking spray making it too slippery? Anyone want to weigh in on this?
Batter’s poured into the bundt pan and it’s ready to go into the preheated oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes.
Place the finished cake onto a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Once the 10 minutes are up, flip it over (with oven mitts or pot holders!) and let it cool off completely before adding the glaze.
To make the chocolate glaze, I use my lazy double boiler method – one small bowl placed into a small pan fill half way with water.
Add the chocolate and oil to the bowl. Set the heat on medium-low and keep a fairly watchful eye as it begins to melt.
Once the melting begins, stir frequently until all the lumps are gone.
Drizzle (paint) the warm glaze over the cake and let it cool. It will set sort of like Magic Shell.
Cherry chocolate pound cake ready to be devoured!
For the future, I will not be making another cake post when it’s really hot around here. The glaze would have been a little prettier if it had cooled properly. But, you live and learn, right?
Either way, I now get to eat some saftig (moist) cherry chocolate pound cake.
Tell me about your favourite chocolate cake!
As always,
und Alles Liebe
Diony
Cherry Chocolate Pound Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 12 oz of Cherries I use frozen
- 3 oz of Chocolate Pudding Mix
- 2 cups of Flour
- 3.5 tsp of Baking Powder
- 3/4 cup of Sugar
- 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
- 5 Eggs room temperature is best
- 1/2 cup of Buttermilk
- 1/2 + 1/8 cup of Canola Oil
- 3.5 oz of Chopped Dark Baking Chocolate
Simple Glaze
- 4 oz of Chopped Dark Baking Chocolate
- 1 + 1/2 tsp of Canola Oil
Equipment
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- Bundt Pan
- Cooling Rack
Instructions
-
Grease bundt cake pan and preheat the oven to 350.
-
Lightly whisk together flour, baking powder and chocolate pudding mix. Add sugar, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract and eggs to the dry mixture. Mix slowly together with an electric mixer until mostly wet. Set to highest speed and mix for 2 minutes until batter is smooth and drippy. Gently fold in cherries and chocolate.
-
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 70 minutes. Afterwards let it rest on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes in the bundt pan. Gently remove the cake from the pan and let it cool off completely.
-
To make glaze, melt chocolate and oil on medium low heat in a double boiler. Drizzle warm chocolate over cake and let it set. Should set hard. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Tips:
- You can substitute dark (or milk) chocolate chips or chunks for the chopped baking chocolate.
-Adding the whole box of chocolate pudding mix makes for a moister cake.
Adapted from Dr. Oetker's German Baking Today
l think, it is always better to grease your pan with butter and flour or if it fit to the cake with shredded coconut or oatmeal flakes or even shredded almond.
lt makes something like a crust, which l didn´t have with cooking spray. ll used it once and never again. 🙂
And l use always baking cocoa or only melted chocolate instead of any chocolate pudding mix, but l know you had a different recipe. Maybe try it without that, the next time you will make that cake. 🙂
I almost used butter and cocoa powder for the bundt pan. Next time I will have to do that since I agree with you, baking spray shouldn’t be used again. My fear is always I over butter.
I’ve baked chocolate cakes with cocoa and/or melted chocolate and they turn out great too. The pudding just seems to add a little extra moisture. I’ve found I like both methods!