I am a huge fan of Cherry Ripes. Ok, when I say I'm a fan I'm not an eat it everyday type fan, nor do I always make sure I have a stash of them hidden away in the pantry, but Cherry Ripes are the only chocolate bar I eat. They are delicious and indulgent and when I was introduced to the delicious Cherry Ripe Roll's that came out last year I was instantly converted from the original Cherry Ripe to this new yummy creation. By the way, if you have never heard of a Cherry Ripe (ps you are missing out) you can read about them here.
The other day I had a craving for Cherry Ripe but not having any in the house I thought I'd try my hand at making a Cherry Ripe cake instead. When I told my fiance I was making a Cherry Ripe cake he raised his eyebrow questioning how close I'd be able to get to the real thing (which incidentally he is a huge fan of too), but when he had his first bite he laughed. I thought I'd done something wrong, like stupidly substitute salt for sugar, but he laughed because he was amazed at how much it tasted like a Cherry Ripe. And he was right. It did taste like a Cherry Ripe, albiet a cake version, but the flavour was definitely there. One of my fiance's work colleagues, who tried the cake when my fiance took the left overs in, even asked how many cherry ripes were in the cake.
For my creation I started with my favourite chocolate cake recipe, substituted coconut milk for buttermilk, added cherry brandy, chopped up glace cherries and coconut and baked two separate cakes. In between the layers of cake I added a cherry and coconut buttercream and then topped it all off with a chocolate cherry brandy ganache. It's rich, very rich, but boy is it good.
Given Christmas is cherry season in Australia this cake wouldn't be amiss as your Christmas dessert. After all it is a fruit cake 😉
So tell me, are you a Cherry Ripe fan? What is your favourite chocolate bar?
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
CAKE:
- Butter, for greasing the pans
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cups good quality cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups of coconut milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup of cherry brandy or cherry liqueur
- 200 g of glace cherries, chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup of shredded coconut
CHERRY COCONUT BUTTERCREAM:
- 125 g of butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 200 g of glace cherries, chopped into small pieces
- ¼ cup of shredded coconut
- 2 teaspoon of cherry brandy
- red food colouring, optional
CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- 1 cup of cream, not thickened
- 300 g of dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 tablespoon of cherry brandy or liqueur, optional
Instructions
- Start with the cake. Preheat the oven to 175 Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and butter 2 8-inch/20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and add the sugar and mix on low speed until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, oil, eggs and cherry brandy. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.
- With mixer still on low, add the coconut milk, cherries and coconut and mix until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into two 20cm prepared cake tins and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a cake rack and cool completely.
- For the cherry buttercream add the icing sugar and butter into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the food colouring, if using, and beat until well combined. Then add the glace cherries, coconut and cherry brandy.
- To make the chocolate ganache place the cream and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat until melted and smooth. Add the cherry brandy (if using) and set aside and let it come to room temperature.
- To assemble the cake top one cake with the cherry coconut buttercream and then pour the chocolate ganache over the cake, letting it run down the sides. Then use a large offset spatula to spread from the center toward the edges, so that the cake is evenly and completely covered.
- Decorate with fresh cherries or decorate with chopped up cherry ripe bars.
Sara (Belly Rumbles) says
Wow you really revamped that chocolate cake recipe. I do like cherryripes, would be one of my fave Aussie chocolates, violetcrumbles are my other. Well pollywaffles were my ultimate fave until they were taken off the market :(I am going to have to try your recipe, love the substitutions you have made like coconut milk, very clever.
Parsley Sage says
That looks AWESOME! I haven't had a Cherry Ripe before but its totally on my list of things to try 🙂 Brilliant job!
delicieux says
Thank you 😀
Daisy@Nevertoosweet says
I love chocolate bar inspired cakes and this is mouthwatering 🙂
a spoonful of yumm says
wow !! the cake looks sticky, gooey and so delicious 😀 happy december !
delicieux says
Happy December to you too!!! 🙂
Mishaps and mayhem of a gluten free life says
I made a gf version! I had 1/2 cup gf cornflour, 1/2 cup arrowroot flour and 3/4 rice flour! I tried making heart cakes for our anniversary I wasn't so successful at little ones but made cupcakes n did same process! It worked a treat n they look great! Jennifer let me know if it's ok if I put my modified gf version on my blog, of course with a link to original recipe! I can't wait to eat whole cup cake or a heart! Thanks for a great recipe xx
delicieux says
Of course it's fine for your to post your modified version on your blog 😀 I can't wait to see it. 🙂
Mishaps and mayhem of a gluten free life says
Oh boy they taste so good! So worth the cooking time! My new favorite cake!
delicieux says
I am so glad you enjoyed them 😀
Josette says
OMG! I'm drooling...my kids will definitely love this cake!
MMOAGFL (@MMOAGFL) says
RT @ledelicieux: Previously on Delicious Everyday: Cherry Ripe Cake http://t.co/bqVfBdhd #recipe
Sarah says
Is this cake firm enough to carve into a shape? Im doing a large hibiscus shaped cake, and have been told the birthday girl loves cherries, this looks delish!
delicieux says
Hi Sarah,Unfortunately, no, this cake isn't really firm enough to carve.
Marilyn says
I'm definitely going to make this come cherry season!
Lauren says
I love the recipe!!!! I had a problem when cooking it tho 🙁 I put it in the Oven for 40 mins but it was still wobbly like jelly in a way and a skewer didn't come out clean in some areas. I had to take it out after a while tho coz the outside was burning but it sunk in the middle in the end! Will have to try it again.
Jennifer says
Hi Lauren,Sorry to hear you had trouble baking this cake. When you try baking it again I'd suggest baking the cake on the bottom rack of your oven and try reducing the temperature by 10 degrees to 160 celsius. Also, I find if you line the cake tin with greaseproof paper it seems to help minimise burning. Good luck and let me know how it goes! 😀
Giina Lashmar says
LOVED this recipe! thank you so much!!!
Claudia says
Hi Jennifer,I know it's a few years later but I've got a couple of questions I'm hoping you will see and be able to answer.1. In the cake part of the recipe, you said to add the coconut milk in both step 3 and 4... I'm sure it doesn't matter which step I add it in, but I've never baked with coconut milk, so just want to be sure when to do it.2. My boyfriend loves cherry ripes, and also pandas, so I thought I'd try and combine the two into a cherry ripe cake, covered with a fondant panda face, for his birthday. Normally my go-to icing is a wonderful cream cheese icing, which I've done a million times as chocolate, vanilla, and caramel. Do you think your buttercream would be too rich to cover the cake, underneath the fondant layer, and I should instead cover it with a chocolate cream cheese frosting, or would the buttercream be well suited? It sounds and looks absolutely amazing but I don't want to figure out too late that one piece is too rich to consume per person :PThank you for your recipe, and hopefully for your help!Claudia
Nicole @ Delicious Everyday says
Hi Claudia, What I mean in step 3 is to combine the liquid ingredients, the coconut milk, oil, eggs and cherry brandy together, and whisk to combine. Then in step 4 add this mixture to the cake batter. Sorry that wasn't clearer :)What a lucky boyfriend to have you make a cake for him for his birthday! As for your question about the buttercream icing, the cake is quite a rich cake, so I think the buttercream filling would be too rich to cover the cake. I think either the chocolate cream cheese frosting or a chocolate buttercream that isn't overly sweet would work well. I hope that helps 🙂 I'd love to see a photo of how it turns out if you don't mind sharing!
Claudia says
Hi Jennifer,Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! Thank you for your help. I definitely will post a photo when it's complete! It'll be a few weeks away.Cheers,Claudia
Claudia says
Hi Jennifer,The cake was a HUGE success!! Your recipe was absolutely wonderful, it was moist and the cherry ripe flavour was perfect. Thank you so much! I tried making my own fondant, which failed, so I ended up buying it in the end and it worked out okay. I went with a chocolate cream cheese frosting, so the whole thing was incredibly rich :P. I have a couple of photos but I can't figure out how to attach them.. I can email them to you if you like?Claudia
Nicole @ Delicious Everyday says
I'm so happy to hear it was a huge success Claudia 🙂 I hope your boyfriend had a wonderful birthday! And I'd love to see the photos of the cake. You can email them to me at [email protected]. Thanks so much for sharing how it turned out!
Louise says
Hi there,Would cherry wine work instead of cherry brandy? Or would the consistency not be thick enough?Thank you!
Nicole says
It would probably work - but I might reduce the wine down a bit first so it's a little thicker.
Louise says
Great, thank you Nicole! Fingers crossed 🙂
Melissa says
I know this post is many years old, but we want to make this for my mum for her birthday, and I don't have cherry brandy, and kids will be eating it. Is there any way to substitute something for the alcohol? can we add extra cherries?
Nicole says
Hi Melissa. Some readers have reported making it with a cherry syrup, with good results. Like the kind you would use to make an Italian soda. Hope that helps!
Lauren says
Ten years after this recipe was published, I made it for my mum's birthday and it's now her favourite cake of all time!