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Chocolate cake with a cherry ganache filling, frosted with fresh cherry buttercream, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate covered cherries. This Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake is a beautiful, decadent cake!
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5 from 3 votes

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

Chocolate cake with a cherry ganache filling, frosted with fresh cherry buttercream, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate covered cherries. This Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake is a beautiful, decadent cake!

Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 cup coffee
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Cherry Ganache Filling:

  • 1/2 cup fresh cherries
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup fresh cherries
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

Ganache and Topping:

  • 1/2 tbsp light corn syrup
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • ~8 fresh cherries to dip in chocolate

Instructions

Cake:

  • Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line 3, 8" pans with parchment paper. Flour & butter sides of pans (I use baking Pam to do this).
  • Whisk together first six ingredients in mixing bowl. Then add following 7 ingredients and beat on medium speed until all ingredients well combined, about 2 minutes. The batter is thin.
  • Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans.
  • Bake until toothpick comes out of center of cake with just a few crumbs, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pans for at least 5 minutes. Then, transfer to cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cherry Ganache Filling:

  • Chop cherries very finely with a knife or pulse in a food processor a few times.
  • In a small sauce pan over medium low heat, add chopped cherries, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp water. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat.
  • Place the cooked cherry mixture along with the 6 ounces of chocolate in a heat safe bowl.
  • Pour heavy whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat until boiling, about 60 seconds.
  • Pour heated whipping cream over chocolate & cherry mixture and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Remove plastic wrap and whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before using to assemble cake.

Cherry Buttercream Frosting:

  • Chop the cup of cherries very finely with a knife or pulse in a food processor a few times.
  • In a large bowl or stand mixer, use electric mixer to beat together butter and shortening until light in color. Add in salt and vanilla and beat until well combined.
  • Alternate mixing in chopped cherries and powdered sugar, scraping down sides as needed, until well combined. Once combined, turn mixer on high for about 30-60 seconds. NOTE: Watch the consistency of the frosting as you are mixing in the cherries. I use firm, fresh cherries. If your cherries are very juicy, you might not want to use all of them as it could be too much liquid.

Assembly and Ganache Topping:

  • Level cakes with a cake leveler or knife. Then, use cherry buttercream frosting to piper a border on the outside of two of cake rounds. Fill inside of each border with half of the cherry ganache. Let layers sit until ganache has firmed up a bit before stacking (~5 minutes).
  • Stack the two filled cake layers, and finish with the unfrosted layer (I always put the top layer on upside down so that the top of the cake will be smooth).
  • Set aside about 2/3 cup of frosting for decorating the top of the cake. Then, apply a thin layer of the cherry buttercream that will serve as the crumb layer. After this, transfer cake to refrigerator or freezer for about 10 minutes. Finally, finish frosting with remaining frosting.
  • To make ganache topping, place chocolate chips and corn syrup in a heat safe bowl. Put heavy cream in a microwave safe dish and heat until boiling, about 60 seconds.
  • Pour cream over chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Remove plastic and whisk until smooth.
  • Immediately dip about 8 cherries into ganache and set on parchment paper.
  • Pour remaining ganache into squeeze bottle and use to drop down sides of cake. Fill top of cake with remaining ganache and smooth with offset spatula. Let chocolate firm for about 5 minutes before performing next step.
  • Use pasty bag to pipe cherry buttercream into 8 circles on top of cake. Top each buttercream circle with a chocolate covered cherry.