This Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake is made up of fudge-y layers of cake topped with cherry buttercream, cherry jam and chocolate pieces and it is every bit as delicious as it sounds. It’s also completely gluten free and can be dairy free as well!
It’s truly one of the very best cakes I have ever tasted and I mean, look at that color!
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
What you’ll need:
- Cocoa Powder
- Gluten Free Flour
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Coconut Sugar
- Coconut Oil
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs
- Almond Milk
- Espresso
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Frozen Cherries
- Sugar or Monk Fruit
- Water
- Honey
- Tapioca Starch or Flour
Cake Essentials:
DIETARY NOTES
This recipe is made with real ingredients and fits seamlessly into the following dietary needs when using the ingredients listed in the recipe:
- gluten free
- dairy free (using compliant butter)
- refined sugar free (using compliant milk, monk fruit, powdered sugar and vanilla extract)
- vegetarian
Products I recommend:
Please note that baking is pretty specific, especially when it comes to gluten free, so before making any substitutions, please ask first! I never want any ingredients to go to waste!
- Gluten Free Flour
- Cocoa Powder
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Monk Fruit Sweetener (can use for a lower sugar option)
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Coconut Sugar
- Almond Milk
- Butter (I use vegan butter for dairy free)
- Tapioca Flour/Starch
A NOTE ON CALORIE COUNT, NUTRITIONAL INFO AND SERVING SIZES
Due to my past experiences, I do not include most of the above information within my recipes as it is unsafe for me to do so personally. While I try to share a rough estimate when it comes to the serving size, please note that it is very subjective as we all have different hunger levels both from person to person and even from meal to meal.
If any of the above information is important to you, I understand! We are all different and have various goals and needs. If you’d like, you are welcome to calculate the information needed based on the ingredients you use when making one of my recipes.
I hope you understand! This comes from a place of love and protection both for myself and others like me. If you ever have any questions, send me an Instagram message for the quickest response time! Thank you for being here!
Hungry for more?
More desserts to love:
- Chocolate Sauce
- Apple Crumble Loaf Cake
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites
- Orange Almond Cake
- Drop Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake
- Vanilla Prosecco Berry Cake
- Almond Flour Lemon Cake
- Cosmic Brownies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- 4 Ingredient Mini Chocolate Tarts
- 4 Ingredient Chocolate Tart
- Chocolate Avocado Mousse
- Cherry Chip Cookies
FOLLOW ALONG!
Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok to see all of the behind the scenes of recipe creation as well as how to videos to watch them come to life! You can also head over to my Pinterest to save all of my recipes in one spot that you plan whip up in the future.
PS – If you make this recipe or any of my other recipes, I would be so grateful if you left a review so I can hear what you think! I also am happy to answer any questions you may have on here, but if you want a quicker response, be sure to shoot me a message on Instagram. Thank you so much and talk soon!
Ingredients
Method
- Combine cherries, water and sugar or monk fruit in a pot on the stove over medium heat.
- Bring to a slight simmer and keep an eye on the mixture, mixing lightly and pressing down on the cherries as the sugar dissolves.
- Once the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has thickened, your simple syrup is done! Strain the syrup into a resealable glass container leaving out the cherries and let cool before using.
- Add cherries and water to a pot and place it on the stove over medium/high heat, bringing it to a boil.
- While it boils just slightly, mash the cherries into the water.
- Add in the honey or sugar and allow it to simmer while continuing to mash together the ingredients.
- Combine the water and tapioca starch/flour together and mix until fully combined. Then, pour the mixture into the jam, stirring immediately as you add it in.
- Continue mixing until the mixture is thick, then remove it from the heat and allow the jam to fully cool.
- Set butter for the buttercream on the counter to come to room temperature, line the bottoms of 2 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Then, add in all of the wet ingredients aside from the coconut oil and the espresso (adding the hot coconut oil and espresso to the cold ingredients can cause the coconut oil to harden) and mix until fully combined.
- Then, quickly mix in the coconut oil and espresso until no clumps remain.
- Pour the batter into the two cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Allow the cakes to cool, then remove them from the pans by gently running a butter knife along the sides of the cake and then carefully flipping each cake upside down onto a baking sheet.
- Carefully slice off any uneven parts off of the top of the cake to make for a flat surface for frosting (and be sure to save the scraps for snacking, of course).
- Place the cake layers in the fridge to chill.
- Once cooled completely, pour and brush 1 tbsp of the cherry syrup onto the tops and bottoms of the two cake layers (this means 4 tbsp total, 1 tbsp per side).
- Place the cake back in the fridge until time to decorate. The colder the cake the easier it is to frost!
- Using a stand or electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth.
- Then, sift in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing completely in between each addition. Be sure to scrape the sides to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Mix in the vanilla and salt, then finally mix in the jam until just combined. Note: If your buttercream starts to separate, that means there is too much moisture. Add in an additional cup of powdered sugar and it should be just fine!
- Once it's time to put the cake together, place the bottom layer of cake onto a cake plate or cake stand, then top it with some of the cherry buttercream. Smooth out the buttercream in a way that creates a boarder of frosting around the perimeter so that the jam has a place in the center.
- Place half of the jam into the center and smooth it out into an even layer, still with a frosting boarder keeping it in place. Sprinkle your chopped chocolate bar over top, then place the top layer of cake on top of that.
- Frost the top of your cake, again leaving a boarder of frosting to hold in the jam.
- Frost the sides of the cake (to the best of your ability, it does not have to be perfect! Homemade is beautiful.) and once to your liking, place the cake in the fridge to set the buttercream a bit.
- Once ready to finish decorating, add the rest of your buttercream to a piping bag and decorate it as you wish! Finish it off by placing the rest of your jam in the center of the cake followed by the rest of your chopped chocolate. Then of course, place your fresh cherries around the cake.
- Keep in the fridge until ready to serve and enjoy!
I made this for Father’s Day to take to a family BBQ and everyone loved it! The flavor combos were so good for the hot weather.
Sooo beyond happy to hear!!! Thank you so much for making and sharing 🙂
which gf flour do you use?
It’s written right in the recipe 🙂 Bob’s Red Mill 1:1!
would this recipe work with regular flour?
I’m celiac so I don’t know! I’m assuming but I can’t say for sure.