Description

Impress your family and guests with this scrumptious cake. It's a great one for birthdays and holidays. Not only is it a gorgeous cake, it's moist and delicious as well.

Ingredients

• Cake Batter:
• 4 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 c. white granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 c. warm milk
• 1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/8 t. fine sea salt
• Filling:
• 4 c. (1 lb.) freshly pitted cherries
• 1/2 c. golden rum
• 1/4 c. cold filtered water
• Frosting:
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 1/4 t. fine sea salt
• 16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into 16 pieces
• 4 T. reserved cherry/rum syrup
• Decoration:
• semi-sweet chocolate chips, to create shaved chocolate
• handful of fresh cherries for the top

Steps

1. Drunken Cherries:
2. Rinse, drain and pit cherries; roughly chop pitted cherries; place in a medium bowl with 1/2 c. rum; let sit at room temperature for 1 hour; drain cherries in a sieve over a bowl. Set aside the cherries and the syrup.
3. Chocolate Cake Layers: