My dad is turning 65 this year and I’m hoping to bake a knockout cake for him.  He adores cherries and likes chocolate cake .... but sort of the old fashioned, not too dark chocolate cake (that he btw loves to eat in a bowl with milk on top…strange, but that’s what I’m working with!).  I have one bag of frozen sour cherries left that I’m hoping to use for the occasion but I’m sort of at a loss about what to make.  I did black forest a few years ago….so I’m thinking of something different.  Most of the cakes out there use strawberries or raspberries for accompanying fruit…the cherry is a little more tart, sour, tangy and I need to get the balance just right!  I have toyed with the idea of a light whipped ganache studded with cherries for a filling, but I’m open to other suggestions and ways of using the cherries and chocolate theme.

Awww, you’re so nice to bake something, and to tailor it to his tastes

First thing that came to mind is the milk chocolate oblivion (RHC- baby cakes) topped with cherry topping and wrapped with a chocolate band- yum!

Another thought is the black forest, but made with light whipped ganache (chocolate) instead of whipped cream.

I’ve forgotten about mc oblivion and never tried it myself…that would be nice… I also would consider making some ice cream to go with the cake (which is sort of heresy…but he LOVES ice cream with cake) so I could potentially go that route too.. maybe the oblivion with ice cream and cherries…I’m at least getting some wheels turning!!

The RHC ice cream cake is one of my favorites, everyone loves it to pieces.  You could fill it with cherry vanilla ice cream.  You can frost with gelatin stabilized whipped cream, which freezes perfectly, and the whole thing can be made and decorated ahead of time and then frozen until needed.  Depending on how many layers/how thick it is, you’ll need 30-60 minutes out of the freezer before serving, especially if you’ve made it with homemade ice cream, which often has less air than store bought and freezes harder (maybe brandied cherry ice cream?).

Whatever you pick, I’m looking forward to seeing what you make!