Our Valentines Day, by choice. was very low-key. Quiet and relaxing. I can give or take the pomp and circumstance and am also perfectly happy just to go out for a good burger as long as I’m with Bob This year I was going to make steak and shrimp, but that Chipolte Buffalo Chili from Saturday night was so good, we decided to have it for leftovers.
I did however, surprise and impress him with this cake. Not only is it cute as the dickens, but it is extremely luscious, rich and delicious.
It’s Black Forest Upside Down Cake. I saw mention of it coming out of the Martha Stewart camp, but couldn’t find it. So, found a Black Forest Cake over at All Recipes, and a Plum Upside Down Cake over at Martha Stewart and just winged it.
My cousin gave me a little Polish hand painted heart-shaped baking dish earlier this year and it worked like a charm. I used a round cake pan for the rest of the batter.
Here’s the Black Forest Cake recipe I found and several of the comments on the site mentioned that it was the best Black Forest Cake ever. I’ve never had Black Forest Cake before, so can’t chime in on that claim, but I do know it is really really good. So moist and luscious and those cherries molded perfectly to the cake. The cake ended up performing like a super model for the photo shoot, not one cherry fell off and had to be replaced.
- 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk (I used 1/2 c. whole milk and 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream – just cuz)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 (20 ounce) cans pitted sour cherries
- For the Fruit: (the part I winged)
- 8 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended.
- Divide melted butter and brown sugar into the bottom of pans. Pat in drained cherries and then pour cake batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cakes on wire racks about 30 minutes. Loosen edges, and turn upside down to onto plate.
- Serve with whipped cream
Thrown in a highly rated and delicious Washington State Cab.
And we had a great Valentine’s Day.
Black Forest Cake … It’s What’s For Dessert.
From the blog of Lea Ann Brown, Cooking On The Ranch
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
We love black forest cake too man, we just love it! My husband demands two things for his birthday every year – the said cake and borscht. But I never thought of the upside down version! Usually we have cherries in all of these three places 1)add some to the batter 2)between the layers along with the chocolate buttercream 3)on top – on top of some more chocolate buttercream. Then whipped cream is piped/smeared all around the sides. One year a friend gave me a pile of sour cherries and I made my own cherry pie filling, it was amazing, what a difference the homemade aspect makes. Otherwise I use the wilderness filling (not so great – but).
Thanks for stopping by Sofya. I really like borscht too. I’d like to try the official layering method for that cake. One of these days.
Aww how sweet! And I adore sour cherries so this is ideal-I love to see my cherries! 😀
BEAUTIFUL cake!! Perfect Valentine’s cake!
It took me a while to get around to tell you what a great idea for the lime creme. We planted a lime tree several years ago for Ms. Goofy’s margeritas. We now have limes for the neighborhood.
I also noticed your obligatory local brand of beer. Nice!
Thanks Chilibrown, sure wish I could grow lime trees.
Terrific upside down cake. My husband loves chocolate and cherries. I’m sure he will like this!!
That is so cute! What a great Valentine’s Day cake. 🙂
It sounds like the perfect end for the perfect date!
Yep, cute as the dickens, sums that up perfectly.
Upside down cakes are so moist – what a beautiful little performer, too. (I hate when supermodels drop their cherries) 😛 Seriously cute post and the ending is adorable.
just too cute… Hope you had a great day with whomever you always wished you were with!
Looks great! I love to experiement too… great job!
We had a low key night too… already posted the chicken cutlests in hunters sauce… today was the cake… it was nice and quiet… I hate going out on Valentines Day
ha Ha …i love how u somehow found ur way to that perfect cake u jus wanted……yeah thats the main thing about love….ur idea of fun is anyhting as long as family and ur loved ones are with u…….
Great job with that cake! Apparently “winging it” means inventing a great recipe!
Now thats a cake. I’m not a big dessert eater, but you say there’s a house for sale nearby?
Your little doggies are sooo cute!
And so is this cake! I saw some black cherries in the market yesterday, wonder how they would work in this recipe? I’m crazy about upside down cakes!
The cake turned out beautiful, very lovely looking.
Lea Ann ~ What a delicious looking treat! Cherries are my favorite and I needed a new way to incorporate them into baking. One can only eat cherry pie for just so long! And I totally forgot about ‘black forest’.
Many many thanks…