Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

 
So, I was daydreaming about delicious holiday sweets...

and how I could create them in cake form.

(What, you don't do that?)

My mind wandered to chocolate covered cherries...
because I really, really love them...
then inspiration hit me!

I realized if I made my Maraschino Cherry Cake and covered it in chocolate,

it would taste like a giant chocolate covered cherry!

   
Fabulous idea, don't you think??

This cake is full of maraschino cherry chunks, covered with whipped chocolate ganache
and topped with homemade chocolate covered cherries.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake 
by Bird On A Cake

6036662

Maraschino Cherry Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon cherry extract
• 10 oz. bottle of maraschino cherries - reserve the juice and cut the cherries in eighths
• 2 tablespoons flour for sprinkling over diced cherries

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

• 1 (12 oz.) package mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of three 6 inch cake pans (or two 8 inch) with wax paper. Grease the sides.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in the egg whites. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, cherry extract and reserved maraschino cherry juice. Alternate adding the dry and wet mixtures to the butter/sugar/eggs until combined.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of flour over the diced cherries and stir until the flour has been completely absorbed. Stir the cherries into the batter.

Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Microwave chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave-safe bowl on medium power, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Whisk in butter; let stand 20 minutes. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes or until ganache forms soft peaks. Spread on cooled cake.

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How to make Chocolate Covered Cherries

• Drain maraschino cherries with stems and pat them dry with a paper towel.
• Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave.
• Dip the cherries in the melted chocolate, then place on wax paper to harden.
• Arrange on top of your cake immediately after spreading the whipped ganache.

This cake would be a showstopper at any holiday party or family gathering!

Enjoy!

I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Thanksgiving Pilgrim & Indian Cupcake Toppers

Poor Thanksgiving.

It seems to get forgotten in the mad rush to Christmas!

And Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday...

I love that we Americans dedicate a day to being thankful!

We gather our families together and focus on what is really important in life.

Remember the people who started it all?

To celebrate them, I used candy melts to make some cute
Pilgrim & Indian Cupcake Toppers.
 (I know we say "Native Americans" now. You may call these whatever you like!)

These toppers would be fun to make with your kids.

You can use my template to make the heads,

and let your little ones draw on some faces with frosting.

Then you can enjoy eating them together!

Start by copying or downloading this template:

• Tape the template to a cookie sheet or piece of cardboard. Tape a sheet of wax paper over the template.
• Heat your candy melts on 50% power in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted and smooth.
• To make the Indians skin color, I used peanut butter candy melts.
• To make the Pilgrim skin color, I used white candy melts mixed with a tiny drop of yellow and a tiny drop of orange food coloring gel.
• I used decorating bags fitted with Wilton #3 (small round) tips.

Want to know my secret weapon for getting straight lines and smooth edges

when working with candy melts?

Toothpicks!

First I fill in the outline without trying to reach the edge.

Then I use a toothpick to push the melted candy to the edge

and fill in any empty space or corners.

See before and after in the pics below:

 When your toppers are done, put them in the refrigerator to harden.

Then carefully peel them off the wax paper and turn them over.

Time to pipe on some faces!

You can use more candy melts or frosting.

Tip: A ziploc bag with the corner snipped off works well for little hands.

I want to say how thankful I am for all of you, my wonderful readers!

I love hearing from you and getting to share my cake obsession with you. :0)

You make this blog SO much fun for me!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Would you like to see another fun tutorial using candy melts?
Check out my Autumn Leaves Cake!

I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Family Theme Halloween Costumes

I understand if you are a little confused.

You are probably thinking, "Um...where is the CAKE?"

Today I decided to share one of our family traditions with you.

Six years of family theme Halloween costumes!

This year we chose a Star Wars theme.

If you read my last post with the Butterscotch Bundt Cake recipe,

you already know that my oldest daughter is a huge Star Wars fan.

 

And here are our costumes from years past...

My secret weapon is that my mom is a fantastic seamstress,

and has spent many hours helping us make these costumes!

Alice in Wonderland (2011)

My parents even joined in on the fun!

Dr. Seuss (2010)

 Toy Story 2 (2009)

Steve Irwin & Crocodiles (2008)

The Incredibles (2007)

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at our family theme costumes.

Does your family dress up together too?

Tell me about your favorite costumes!

Happy Halloween!

Butterscotch Bundt Cake

When my 13 year old daughter created her first email account,
she combined two things that she loves to come up with a name for herself...
"Butterscotch Jedi".

This Butterscotch Bundt Cake is dedicated to her.

I decided to keep it simple by starting with a yellow cake mix,
which I jazzed up with butterscotch pudding, melted butter and rum extract.
The cake turned out really buttery and moist.

Then I used butterscotch chips to make a glaze.
I was too impatient to let it cool & thicken, so I let my cake swim in a lake of butterscotch
and spooned a liberal amount over each slice of cake.

Sometimes it pays to be impatient. :0)

Butterscotch Bundt Cake

by Bird On A Cake

6035579

Ingredients

Butterscotch Bundt Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 (4 serving) box butterscotch instant pudding
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons rum extract

Butterscotch Glaze

• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a bundt cake pan. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Place the butterscotch chips in a small metal bowl. Heat cream over medium heat. Watch it closely and immediately remove from heat when it starts to boil. Pour over butterscotch chips. Let sit for 2 minutes, then slowly stir the mixture. Continue to stir until all the chips have completely melted. Let cool slightly before pouring over cake.

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  "Mom, you will give me all the cake."

Enjoy!

Would you like another delicious bundt cake recipe?
Check out my Red Velvet Bundt Cake.

I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This recipe was featured!

Toothy Monster Cupcakes

Here is a simple tutorial for some fun Halloween cupcakes!

I just love their big mouths full of pointy teeth,

and their staring zombie eyes...

Toothy Monster Cupcakes  

I was inspired by these cupcakes on the Wilton site.

What You Will Need:

A batch of cupcakes

Chocolate ganache or melted chocolate fudge frosting

Decorator bags fitted with a round tip (Wilton #12)
A batch of buttercream frosting

Purple and yellow food coloring gel

M&M's

First, cover the tops of your cupcakes with ganache or melted frosting.

Let them cool and harden.

Color 1/2 cup of the buttercream yellow. Divide the rest into two bowls.

Leave one bowl of buttercream white and color the other bowl of buttercream purple.

Pipe purple buttercream along the top third of the cupcake,

moving back and forth in a zigzag motion.

 Make the teeth by piping a dot, then pulling away quickly to form a point.

 Pipe two large dots of yellow buttercream for the eyes, and press M&M's into the dots.

  

Watch out, he bites!! 

  

Enjoy!

  I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

And this holiday link party...

This post was featured!