Drunken Cherry Chocolate Cake Recipes

What makes this a Drunken Cherry Chocolate Cake? Well, the cherries are soaked in a golden rum and the layers are moist from cherry rum syrup. Did I win you over yet? This cake is scrumptious. It really is as good as it looks.

Ingredients
For the Cake Batter:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter softened to room temp
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup warm milk I used 1%
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder I used one that is a blend of natural and dutched cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp fine sea salt

For the Filling:
4 cups 1 lb fresh pitted cherries
1/2 cup golden rum I used Bacardi Gold $8/bottle at a liquor store
1/4 cup cold filtered water
For the Frosting:
2 sticks 1 cup or 16 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
16 oz 2 blocks cream cheese, softened to room temp and cut into 16 pieces
4 Tbsp of the reserved cherry/rum syrup
To Decorate:
Semi-sweet chocolate chips to create shaved chocolate
A handful of fresh cherries for the top
Instructions

• Boozing up your cherries:
• Rinse, drain and pit your 1 lb of cherries. Roughly chop your pitted cherries and place them in a medium bowl with 1/2 cup golden rum. Let sit at room temp for 1 hour then drain cherries in a sieve over a bowl. Keep both the cherries and the syrup.

Making the Chocolate Cake Layers:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter and flour two, 8-inch cake pans and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together 4 Tbsp soft butter, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat on high speed for 7 min until light and fluffy. Whisk in 1 cup warm milk until smooth.
• For full instructions please see : natashaskitchen.com