Description
This Chocolate Cherry Cake is a rich, moist dessert combining dark chocolate, ground almonds, and juicy cherries. Enhanced with almond and vanilla extracts, it offers a beautifully textured cake topped with fresh or frozen cherries and a glossy cherry jam glaze. Perfect served slightly warm with thick whipped cream, it's a decadent treat for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake Batter
- 225 g (1 cup minus 1 tbsp) unsalted butter room temperature, cut into chunks
- 200 g (1 cup) golden caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 4 medium eggs
- 200 g (1 2/3 cups) ground almonds (course almond meal)
- 50 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate (70%) melted
- 50 g (1/3 cup) chocolate chips
- 300 g fresh or frozen black cherries pitted
- 2 tbsp cherry jam
To Serve
- Thick whipped cream
Instructions
- Prepare the oven and tin: Preheat the oven to 170C/325F (fan). Lightly grease a 23 cm diameter loose-bottomed flan tin.
- Whisk butter and sugar: Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk with an electric mixer or stand mixer for about 3-4 minutes until fluffy.
- Add extracts and eggs: Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Then add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. The mixture may look separated but will come together.
- Fold in dry ingredients: Gently fold in the ground almonds, cocoa powder, and baking powder until well combined.
- Incorporate chocolate: Fold in the melted dark chocolate and chocolate chips thoroughly.
- Assemble cake batter: Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
- Prepare cherries: Slice half of the cherries in half, leaving the other half whole. Arrange cherries on top of the batter, placing sliced ones cut-side-up and pushing them slightly into the mixture.
- Bake the cake: Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Glaze and cool: Mix cherry jam with 2 tbsp cold water. Brush the glaze over the warm cake. Leave cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing to a rack to cool further.
- Serve: Serve the cake slightly warm or at room temperature topped with thick whipped cream and optionally fresh cherries and swirled cherry jam.
Notes
- Use fresh, frozen (use while still frozen or drain if defrosted), or tinned cherries (drain liquid before use).
- You can make the cake ahead; store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- To serve warm later, microwave individual slices for a few seconds.
- The cake can be frozen after cooling; defrost overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving, or microwave slices briefly to warm.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 1/12 of cake)
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 13 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
