So we were running through the produce section of our grocery store the other day (really just to grab some lettuce for tacos) and I noticed cherries. I have always associate cherries with summer. Cherries are the kind of fruit you can't have year-round in the produce department, so I looked into it, and it is currently the Southern hemisphere's cherry season (makes sense)! I guess Australians associate cherries with Christmas, which made me think... Christmas is really different down under, wearing shorts in the height of summer season and celebrating Christmas... strange thought!
Any way... there are a lot of birthdays around Christmas and I have been thinking about making cake pops, but instead of a pop, a cherry stem. So I grabbed a bag of cherries and made these super rich and chocolaty cherry bombs! And I mean they are really gooood. This is coming from someone who doesn't typically like chocolate cake or cherries... but these are the bomb! (Haha... pun intended!)
Just so you know, the stems are a little finicky. I really wanted mine to look like little cherry bombs, so I tried my hardest to keep the stem on throughout the process (specifically when dipping them in the chocolate). These would be just as delicious balled up without the stem or even put a pop stick in them.
So before your New Years resolutions are set, get in one last indulgence!
Cake
1.25 cups flour
.333 cup cocoa powder
.5 cup sugar
1 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
.5 cup butter (1 stick)
.333 cup milk
.5 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp baking powder
salt
Frosting
.5 cup butter (1 stick)
.333 cup cocoa powder
1.5 cup powdered sugar
20 cherries (pits removed)
12 oz dark chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together in mixer. Add vanilla and egg, combine at a slower speed. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder.
2. Add half of the flour and milk, stir to combine. Add remaining flour and milk, stir to combine.
3. Spray cake pan with a little bit of cooking spray (I used spray olive oil) and scoop cake batter into pan. Bake for 14 minutes.
4. Carefully de-pit the cherries by slicing the bottom with a knife and removing the pit with your fingers. Try to keep the cherry intact.
5. Crumble the cake into pieces and let cool.
6. In the mixer, mix butter and cocoa powder together for the frosting. Add a little powdered sugar at a time until well combined. Once cake is cooled, combine frosting and cake together to make a doughy consistency.
7. Cover each cherry with the cake/frosting mixture and form into balls. Place on tray and set in freezer to cool.
8. Melt dark chocolate in double boiler (aka: heat safe bowl set inside pot with a small amount of simmering water). Dip cooled cake covered cherries into the chocolate, place back on try, and let set. (Put back in freezer to set the chocolate quicker.)
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