by Lisa Fillers

Created on: September 08, 2008   Last Updated: March 30, 2009

I was first introduced to chocolate cherry cake by a friend I worked with over twenty five years ago. She brought the sinfully delicious dessert to an office party and, being the chocolate addict I am, I thought it was the best dessert at the party. I just had to ask her for the recipe the moment I tasted the first bite.

I was totally shocked at the simplicity of the recipe. Surely, I thought, a cake so decadent must take a lot of work to bake! I was so wrong and was very pleased to also find that it did not require a lot of ingredients so it was budget friendly, as well.

In the past few years experimental cooks have created a chocolate cherry version of the dump cake that is very good. However, most of the time I just make the version my friend gave me the recipe for. It is probably lower in calories than the dump cake version. I will list the recipes of both versions below.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 package chocolate cake mix

1 can cherry pie filling

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup sugar

5 Tablespoons butter

1/2 Cup milk

1 Cup chocolate chips

CAKE DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9 x 13 cake pan lightly with unsalted butter.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add almond extract, cake mix, and cherry pie filling. Stir by hand gently.

3. Pour cake batter into greased cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until center springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and allow cake to cool before frosting. If you are not going to serve the cake from the pan it was baked in, remove the cake from the pan to a cooling rack. Allow it to completely cool prior to frosting.

FROSTING DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium saucepan, boil sugar, butter, and milk for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

2. Add in chocolate chips and stir until melted and smooth.

3. Spread frosting on cake. Allow an hour for frosting to set before serving.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY DUMP CAKE

This recipe is so easy to throw together. As the name implies, you simply dump all the ingredients in a pan by the directions. It is a rich cake, though, as it has a high content of butter. This cake is delicious served warm from the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans cherry pie filling

1 box chocolate cake mix

2 sticks butter

2.25 ounce bag of chopped pecans

1/8 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 9 x 13 cake pan lightly with butter.

1. Dump the 2 cans of cherry pie filling into the greased cake pan, spreading evenly across pan.

2. Sprinkle the box of chocolate cake mix evenly across the cherry pie filling.

3. Cut the butter into 12 slices and place the slices over top of the cake mix.

4. Spread the pecans evenly across top of cake mix and butter.

5. Sprinkle the sugar across the top and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Regardless of which cake recipe you use, you will find the combination of chocolate and cherries is absolutely divine!

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