Moist, vegan Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake
During the summer season, I try to eat as much of the seasonal produce that is now filling up the markets as possible. Time is short, but I still want to make the most of fruit and vegetables such as raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, spinach, and Swiss chard. So I often end up with fresh berries for breakfast, spinach and tomatoes for lunch, and a few slices of watermelon as a late night. I manage this with most of the produce, but cherries pass unnoticed every year.
So this year, I decided to put cherries in all kinds of baked goods. The advantage of them is that they keep their moisture while baking, so you don't need to worry about a soggy cake. Today, I threw fresh cherries in a chocolate Bundt cake, but you could also use them for a crumble cake, fold them into a muffin batter or add them on top of a yeast cake.
Vegan Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 350 g (12.5 oz) fresh cherries
- 340 g (2.75 cups) flour
- 40 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 175 g (1 cup) sugar
- 12 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
- 8 g (1 tsp) vanilla sugar
- 330 ml (1.33 cup) sparkling water
- 100 ml (0.5 cup) vegetable oil (canola oil or sunflower oil)
- 50 g (2 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips
- plant-based butter for greasing
- cocoa powder or flour for dusting
For garnish:
- 50 g (2 oz) fresh cherries
- 250 g (9 oz) bittersweet chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F (circulating air). Wash cherries and remove stems and cherries. For the latter, it's easiest to do this with a glass or metal straw, or chopsticks.
- In a bowl, mix flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and vanilla sugar. Add sparkling water and oil and stir quickly into a smooth batter. Only stir until all flour is incorporated, but don't over stir or else your cake won't be fluffy. Last but not least, fold in chocolate chips and cherries.
- Grease and flour a Bundt pan (25x9cm / 9x3.5inch or any regular one). For "flouring" it's actually best to use unsweetened cocoa powder as this will match the color of the chocolate cake.
- Transfer batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180°C/355°F for approx. 45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool out.
- For garnish, melt 200 g (7 oz) of bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Chop the remaining 50 g (2 oz) chocolate and set aside. Pour melted chocolate over the cooled cake and garnish with fresh cherries and chopped chocolate.
