INGREDIENTS

Cake

• 2 cups gluten free flour
• 2 cups cane sugar
• 3/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of hot coffee
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup of buttermilk

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered cane sugar, sifted

Decoration and Cherry Juice

• 2 jars of pitted cherries with stems (no artificial dyes), save juice, cut all in half vertically (save 8 cherries uncut with the stems remaining)
• 2 bars of dark chocolate
• Parchment paper

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees
• Sift and mix all of the dry ingredients
• In a separate bowl, mix all of the wet ingredients, but be sure to add hot coffee slowly so the eggs don’t accidentally cook
• Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for about 3 minutes
• Grease three 6 inch cake pans and add cake mix to each pan
• Bake until you’re able to poke the cake with a knife and it comes out clean
• Remove cake from pans after sitting for 10 minutes, and cool to room temperature
• To make the dark chocolate decoration, melt two bars of dark chocolate on medium heat in a nonstick pan. Once melted completely, spread over rolled out parchment paper (do not cut the paper from the dowel). You will want the chocolate layer to be about as tall as the cake, and fairly thick, but not too thick
• Roll the dowel back over the dark chocolate gently and place in the freezer for about 2-3 hours
• Next, you will make the whipped cream frosting by mixing the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form, put aside
• Place the first layer on a cake stand or plate
• Grab the juice from the cherries–this recipe traditionally uses a cherry liquor syrup, but I decided to try the juice from the jar of cherries–add a fair amount of the juice to the cake, don’t be afraid to add more
• Evenly spread whipped cream onto cake layer
• Add cherry halves–these will help to hold the cake up since the whipped cream is so delicate
• Repeat for the next layer
• When you get to the last layer, add the cherry juice as usual, and then go ahead and ice the whole cake with the whipped cream
• You will then get your dark chocolate and unroll it from the parchment paper–feel free to break the pieces however you like, and begin adding them to the sides of the cake
• You may also finely crumble any remaining chocolate and add it to the top of the cake
• Add whipped cream to a piping bag or Ziploc bag, and add 8 evenly spaced flowers on the edge of the cake
• Using the 8 cherries with stems, place one on top of each whipped cream flower

Notes: a kitchen scale was really helpful for making sure each cake pan had the same amount of batter. The batter is very thin compared to other recipes. Definitely substitute the cherry juice for a cherry liquor syrup if you want! When making the whipped cream frosting, make sure to chill the bowl and whisk prior to mixing.