Chocolate Cherry Cake

I had wanted to make this for Valentine's Day but didn't get to it until March. Oops. But it was no less welcome!

Notes:

• I baked the cake in an 8x8 inch square pan, cut it in half, then split each half to get the four layers of cake. This was a really nice size for two people.
  
• I filled the split layers with sour cherry jam, then stacked the sandwiches together and stuck them together with the chocolate frosting. There was *just* enough frosting to cover the entire cake. I would make more frosting next time if I knew I were going to do anything other than a single sheet of cake.
  

Verdict: I thoroughly enjoyed this cake and was sad when it was gone. This is officially my new favorite chocolate frosting. The melted unsweetened chocolate gives it a very rich, intense chocolate flavor that we absolutely loved.

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RECIPE: The 'I Want Chocolate Cake' Cake (Smitten Kitchen)

Cherry Oatmeal Bars

I made this to use up some cherry jam that was kicking around in the freezer for a long time -- I put too much fruit in it so it didn't set properly, and it sounded like it would work for the cherry filling in this recipe.

Notes:

• I halved the recipe and baked it in an 8x8 baking dish.

Verdict: I don't know that I'd go out of my way to make these again (mostly because I usually don't have sour cherries on hand) but they did taste all right.

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RECIPE: Cherry Oatmeal Bars (Two Peas and Their Pod)

Italian Manhattan

Look at this beautiful drink from my friends' wedding. It is bourbon, amaretto, and cherry juice. The glass is apparently supposed to have a bunch of ice in it too but we forgot that part. Oops. That pick with a gummy heart on it is an adorable touch! The bride's father claimed he made up this recipe himself, but knowing him, I'm taking that with a truckload sized grain of salt.

I loved this drink, and ever since the wedding two years ago I have been wanting to try to make it at home. We had scheduled a dinner date with these friends just after their anniversary, and I thought that would be the perfect excuse to try. They may live on the other side of the world and it was evening here and morning there, but through the wonders of modern technology, we cooked dinner and they cooked brunch, made these to drink after the meal, and we chatted for a good long time. We even set up our computer on the other side of the table so it was almost like they were actually there.

It still needs a bit of tweaking to get it to look and taste as good as the one in the photo, but I think we're off to a great start with the below.

Notes:

• I tried the liquid that maraschino cherries are packed in and 100% pure cherry juice, and neither was really the right flavor or sweet enough. (I only tried maraschino cherry liquid in the original ratios and not 1/1/1.) I will try cherry juice cocktail the next time.
• The original drink calls for different ingredient ratios, but I found it most pleasant with a 1/1/1 ratio, especially with 100% cherry juice.
• A friend suggested higher quality amaretto would make a difference (I went for a middle of the road brand).

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RECIPE:

Italian Manhattan
adapted from The Intoxicologist
Serves 1

1 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey
1 1/2 oz amaretto liqueur
1 1/2 oz cherry juice cocktail
Maraschino cherry (optional)

Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a maraschino cherry if desired. Serve immediately.

Sunken Sour Cherry Cake

Our friends invited us to dinner at their house tonight, and asked us to bring dessert because they get really excited about what I make (always a great feeling). The weather was not that great, so I set to work finding a recipe I could make with what I already had, with the added challenge to make it nut free because one of their children is very allergic to peanuts. I started looking through my backlog of recipes to try, and found Not Quite Nigella's Sunken Sour Cherry Cake. I remembered I had a container of frozen sour cherries, and once I verified that I had enough to make the cake I got to work. I made it nearly exactly as written. I used a pound of frozen cherries in juice (hooray for sour cherries being a local crop for me!). The only thing I did differently was add both vanilla and rum.

I realize this is a German/European recipe where cakes tend to be less sweet and perhaps more dry than Americans might be used to. The cake was a good amount of sweet for me, but seemed a bit dry and didn't taste enough like cherries for my liking. Eating it with whipped cream was nice, but my favorite idea was reducing the sweetened juice the cherries were packed in, poking holes in the top of the cake, and spooning it over the cake just before eating it. A combination of whipped cream and this syrup would be especially tasty I think. I also think it goes incredibly well eaten alongside a cup of coffee or tea. The texture reminded me of an American coffee cake.

If I make this again, I would use fresh cherries and put more cherries in (frozen cherries likely had less moisture since I had to drain them) and maybe mix the cinnamon sugar into the cake batter.

RECIPE: Sunken Sour Cherry Cake