Drunken Cherry Chocolate Cake

What makes this a Drunken Cherry Chocolate Cake? Well, the cherries are soaked in a golden rum and the layers are moist from cherry rum syrup. Did I win you over yet? This cake is scrumptious. It really is as good as it looks.

This Drunken Cherry Chocolate Cake is amazingly good; moist, chocolatey, boozy, and cherry-liscious! I think it’s a winner!

Ingredients:

For the Cake Batter:

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temp

1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup warm milk, I used 1%

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder, I used one that is a blend of natural and dutched cocoa

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

For the Filling:

4 cups 1 lb fresh pitted cherries

1/2 cup golden rum, I used Bacardi Gold $8/bottle at a liquor store

1/4 cup cold filtered water

For the Frosting:

2 sticks, 1 cup or 16 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temp

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

16 oz 2 blocks cream cheese, softened to room temp and cut into 16 pieces

4 Tbsp of the reserved cherry/rum syrup

To Decorate:

Semi-sweet chocolate chips to create shaved chocolate

A handful of fresh cherries for the top