Yudhika’s Cherry Chocolate Cake….

Is there any better way to celebrate the start of a beautiful weekend than with a slice of cake? I was out shopping and there are berries absolutely everywhere!  Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and my favourite….cherries!

Cherries and Chocolate are a match made in heaven….and here a recipe that will add a sparkle to your weekend!

Speaking of sparkles….enter the KitchenAid Stand Mixer competition on….leave a comment and stand a chance of winning this ‘must have’ kitchen appliance!  It’s what I call a dream machine!

Click here for more information….https://yudhikayumyum.com/competition/blog-party-kitchenaid-giveaway/

For more Christmas recipes, pick up your copy of the Post Newspaper on Wednesday…and also check out the AMC Cookware competition!

Love the recipe?  Leave a comment!

Cherry Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

200g cake flour
45g cocoa powder
250g castor sugar
15ml baking powder
Pinch of salt
80g butter
250ml full cream milk
2 eggs
5ml vanilla essence


The Frosting Ingredients

100g butter
200g sifted icing sugar
45g cocoa powder
230g cream cheese
30ml full cream milk, optional

Punnet of fresh strawberries or cherries, to garnish




Here’s how

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.  Grease and line 3 x 20cm (8 inch) round cake tins.

Sift the cake, salt, baking powder and cocoa into a large mixing bowl.  Add the castor sugar and butter to the sifted dry ingredients. Use a hand held beater or a stand mixer and beat the ingredients until they have a sandy consistency.  Ensure that there are no lumps in the mixture and that the butter is broken down.  

Lightly beat the eggs, vanilla essence and full cream milk together.  Pour half the egg mixture into the mixing bowl and beat slowly.  Pour in the other half of the milk mixture and beat for a minute.  Turn up the speed on the beater and beat until the cake mixture is smooth.  There should not be any lumps in the mixture.  Do not over beat as this will result in a heavy textured cake.  

Divide the mixture into the greased tins and bake for 20 minutes or until the cake shrinks away from the side of the tin.  A skewer should come out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.  

Leave the cakes in the tin for a few minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack.   Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling them.  

For the frosting:

Beat together icing sugar and butter until well combined.  Sift in the cocoa powder and continue beating until smooth.  Add the cream cheese and beat until well combined.  Beat until the mixture is fluffy. This should take 2 – 3 minutes.  Add full cream milk if the frosting is too thick.  

To assemble:

Spread the frosting over each cake.  Sandwich the cakes together and use the remaining frosting to ice the sides of the cake.  Garnish with fresh cherries or strawberries.  

Yudhika’s Tips

You can make cupcakes using the same recipe.  This should give you 24 cupcakes.  
When assembling the cake, leave the greaseproof lining on until the cake is being sandwiched.  This makes handling the cake easier and less messy.  
I add fresh cream instead of full cream milk to the frosting for a little more decadence.  
Peppermint essence can be added instead of vanilla.
All ingredients for this recipe must be at room temperature.