Chocolate Cherry Cake

Ever since I brought two cans of cherry pie filling home, I have been planning to make the luscious Chocolate Cherry Cake, but owing to one reason after another, it was getting shelved until yesterday when in a spree of cooking my favourite dishes in celebration of Durga Puja, I finally gave it a try.
 

This Chocolate Cherry Cake is truly bluely sinful. As if chocolates and cherries are made for each other, their happy union creating an explosion of decadent pleasure at each mouthful. The sweetness of cherries and the wickedness of chocolates melded together bring forth an irresistible combination, the creamy layer of frosting reinforcing the flavour. The soft moist texture crumbling in your mouth gives the pleasure of tasting a forbidden fruit, purely outrageous and sinfully decadent.
 

Ingredients:                                                 Cooking time: 1 hr 10 minutes approx. ü  1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ü  1 cup almond powder ü  3 eggs ü  1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) ü  1/2 cup choco powder ü  1/4 cup chocolate chips ü  1 can of cherry pie filling (21 oz) ü  1 3/4 cup brown sugar ü  1 1/2 tsp baking powder ü  1 tsp baking soda ü  1 tsp salt ü  Slivered almonds, according to your craving For Frosting: ü  1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar ü  3/4 cup chocolate sauce ü  1/2 cup cream cheese Method: 1) In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together - flour, almond powder, choco powder, baking powder and baking soda. 2) Heat butter and chocolate chips together until melted. Bring the mixture down to room temperature before use. 3) In another mixing bowl, using an electric beater, whip the wet ingredients together - butter, melted chocolate chips, eggs and brown sugar into a smooth mixture. 4) Add cherry pie filling and stir around using a spoon. (Don't use electric beater as it will mash the cherries.) 5) Gently and carefully fold the wet mixture into the dry one until no speck of flour is visible. 6) Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Pour the cake batter across a greased baking pan and bake the cake for 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted at the centre comes out clean. 7) For the frosting, beat together the ingredients mentioned and when the cake comes down to room temperature, spread the frosting across the top of the cake and garnish with slivered almonds. 8) Enjoy the melt in the mouth texture.