Chocolate Cake Gone Bad But Really Yummy

As part of out summer entertaining we had another dinner party. Seven for Dinner. I decided to make a chocolate cake that incorporated the fresh local cherries that had just hit the stores.

I planned to make a chocolate cake I have made many times and fill it with 2 layers of whipped cream and cherries and one middle layer of chocolate frosting with chocolate frosting covering the whole cake.

I was going to use the chocolate cake recipe from "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs". Chef Jim Dodge shares his recipe for Chocolate Buttermilk Fudge Cake. I was going to use the accompanying recipe for the frosting and wing it with the whipped cream and cherries.

Lets just say everything did not go to plan. The frosting both was not enough for the cake and it really did not work out for me*. I won't share the frosting part.

Chocolate Cake - Stabilized for Chilling.

For the cake I used:


1/2 Cup Water
2 Tablespoons of Buttermilk Powder
1 Stick of Butter (8 ounces)
1/3 Cup of Cocoa Powder - dutch processed
1 Cup of Whey Low sugar substitute
1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1/2 Teaspoon Espresso Powder
5 Large Eggs
1 Cup of Cake Flour

For the filling & frosting I used:
2 Cups Whipping Cream (you should use 3)
1 Tablespoon of Icing Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
Approx 1 pound of Pitted Cherries
1/3 Cup Kirsch
1 chocolate frosting recipe

More after the jump.......
I prepared the cake pans by greasing & flouring and lining with parchment rounds. I also used my prepared cake strips to avoid having to trim any dome that may occur while baking.

Chocolate Cake - Greased and Floured Pans with the Soaking Cake Strips

Chocolate Cake - Cake Strips Attached

I then heated the oven to 325˚.

I gathered up all my ingredients so that I was ready to go. This included separating the eggs.

Chocolate Cake - Eggs Ready to go

Chocolate Cake - All of the Ingredients

Chocolate Cake - The Calm before the Storm

 I heated the butter in a small pan until it was melted. I added the water to this mixture.

In large bowl I mised the cocoa and 1/2 cup of sugar together and added the baking soda and vanilla and the butter/water mixture. I then added the buttermilk powder to this mixture and set this aside.

Chocolate Cake - Melting Chocolate

Chocolate Cake - Adding the Buttermilk Powder

Adding the buttermilk powder at this stage was incorrect. I should have added the buttermilk powder to the dry ingredient mixture. The cake turned out just fine.

In the clean bowl of my mixer I added the egg whites and whipped them until a foam started. I then slowly added the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. I continued until stiff peaks formed. I then set this aside for a minute.

Chocolate Cake -Lightly Whipped Egg Whites just before adding the Sugar

Chocolate Cake - Stiff Peaks

I took the bowl of chocolate mixture and added the egg yolks, whisking until filly incorporated. I then added the cake flour and gently whisked until this had been incorporated as well.

Chocolate Cake - Adding the Yolks

Chocolate Cake - Thoroughly mixed in Yolks

Chocolate Cake - Just 1 cup of Cake flour for 2 - 8" Cakes

Chocolate Cake - After mixing in the Cake Flour

After the flour had been incorporated  I then added about 1/4 of the egg whites to the mixture. I quickly folded the mixture together until just light streaks of egg whites were visible. This was to lighten up the batter. I added the rest of the egg whites and carefully folded them in as well.

Chocolate Cake - Just a little bit of the Egg Whites

Chocolate Cake - Almost incorporated

Chocolate Cake - Adding the rest of the Egg Whites

Chocolate Cake - Just barely mixed in Egg Whites

I quickly split the batter between the 2 cake pans and got them into the oven. It took about 35 minutes for the cakes to bake.

Chocolate Cake - Batter split between the two pans and ready to go

Once baked I cooled the pans for 10 minutes on baking racks. After 10 minutes I removed the cakes from the pan and continued to cook them for about 45 more minutes.

Chocolate Cake - Just out of the oven

While the cakes were cooling I pitted the cherries and cut them in half.

At the end of the cooling time I whipped the cream with a little bit of icing sugar and vanilla.

Once cooled, I cut the cakes in half preparing them for filling and frosting.

I placed the first layer on the cake stand then soaked it with Kirsch. I then topped the layer with whipped cream and a layer of cherry halves. I added the second layer of cake, soaked it with more kirsch, and topped it with a layer of chocolate frosting. I added another layer of cake and repeated the Kirsch, whipped cream, and cherry treatment.

Chocolate Cake - First layer ready to go

Chocolate Cake - Like Bacon... Kirsch makes everything better

Chocolate Cake - The first layer complete

I added the final cake layer and topped it with chocolate frosting.

I used my trusty turkey lifter to stabilize the whole cake in the fridge for 40 minutes ( should have been at least 90 minutes). I then added whipped cream to the outside sides of the cake.

Chocolate Cake - Awaiting the big chill

Sorry there is no picture of the final product. I was much too rushed to remember to take one.

While the cake had less than a stellar presentation appearance... it was darned good. Kirsch and chocolate make everything better!!!

Baker's Notes:

• no new recipes for company! I had a devil of a time with the frosting and it did not make enough. By the time I assembled the cake time was running short. I ran out of whipped cream and should have used more to cover the top of the cake as well
• * turns out my new kitchen is very hot due to poor air circulation. Making frostings will require a fan in the kitchen in the future.