Choco-Cherry Cake

If, like me, you love a good old chocolate cake, then give this baby a whirl. It's dead easy to whip up and tastes heavenly (try not to think calories, but then that surely applies to most cake recipes?). Not too good for the waistline, but very good for the soul with a cup or tea, coffee or glass of milk if you're trying to be wholesome.

This is a treasured Better Homes & Gardens recipe from a 1960 book of desserts my mum had hanging about while I was growing up, so where necessary I've shown the UK substitutes along with the original American ingredients list. And the cherries, well I'd steer away from using glace (really not the right texture here) and miss them out altogether if you can't find, or can't stomach to use the fleuro pink coloured maraschino, although most supermarkets have them - oddly enough near the jarred olives and little onions (being the kitch cocktail stalwarts rather than commonly used baking variety). They're like little glowing gems in such a dark moist cake.

Choco-Cherry Cake

1/2 cup of butter, marg or vegetable shortening (UK: I've not tried with Trex, but both margarine and butter work beautifully and give the same results)
1 cup sugar (caster or granulated, it doesn't seem to make any difference!)
1 egg
2oz unsweetened chocolate, melted (UK: substitute with 6tbsp cocoa and 2 tbsp veg oil)
*
1 1/2 cups cake flour (UK: substitute with 1.5 cups minus 3 tbsp of plain flour)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
2 tbsp maraschino cherry syrup
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Stir marg, butter or shortening to soften. Gradually add the sugar, creaming till light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well, then stir in the melted chocolate (or cocoa and veggie oil).
Sift together the dry ingredients; then add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with the flour mix; beating well after each addition. Add the cherries, syrup and nuts if using.
Grease bottom of a 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish or metal pan, and pour in batter. Bake in oven till a skewer, toothpick or piece of spaghetti inserted comes out clean. If using a glass/other baking dish, then you'll need to bake for 50-55 mins at 325, but for metal pans, bake for about 40 mins at 350(180).

Top with your favourite chocolate icing, leave plain (perfect with vanilla ice cream) or, my favourite, sprinkle the hot-from-oven cake with semi-sweet chocolate chips until they melt and smooth with a spatula for an 'instant' frosting (which is even yummier when it hardens on the cooled cake...). The cake here is dark, but light and very moist - very much like you'd expect from one of those American 'packet' Devils Food Cake mixes actually - but is just right cut into dainty squares for afternoon tea, or even serving in cupcake cases at a picnic. Enjoy!