Cherry Cola Birthday

It was yet another birthday at work today. This one was for someone turning the big 4-0 and he most definitely did not want people to know about it. So, I was happy to oblige. My making sure EVERYONE knew how old he was going to be! Ha!

I use the guys at work as my guinea pigs and today was no exception. I was flipping through my Woman's Day magazine the other day and came across a delicious recipe for a coconut marble bundt cake. It sounded (and looked) downright heavenly. I had all the ingredients except the coconut and well, you just can't make a COCONUT marble bundt cake without coconut. Running to the store was definitely out of the question because that place is a zoo on Sunday afternoons and I was not about to get trampled in that stampede.

So, it was on to plan B.

After going on a hunt for supplies, I came up with a boxed chocolate cake mix and some canned frosting. B-O-R-I-N-G.

In an attempt to jazz things up, I pulled out my Southern Living cookbook (thanks again so much to Tom and Jen for that wonderful gift a couple years ago...I love that thing!) and found a recipe for a Root beer cake that used a boxed cake mix. Of course I didn't have root beer, but I did have a can of cherry coke. Where it came from I have no idea because there are absolutely no cherry coke drinkers in my house whatsoever.

The recipe still sounded a little too dull for me so I then looked to see if there was a can of cherry pie filling anywhere and I was in luck!

For the cake, I used one box chocolate cake mix, 1-1/4 cup cherry coke, 2 eggs and 1/4 cup oil. I blended all those together until moistened. Then I added 1/2 can cherry pie filling and stirred that together. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool and then remove from pan.

For the icing, I used the rest of the can of cherry coke (about 1/4 cup), the rest of the pie filling, 3 T cocoa, 1 tsp. almond extract and about 1 cup of powdered sugar (or until it's how sweet you desire). Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until cocoa and powdered sugar have dissolved. Cool and then pour over cake.

And the verdict from my guinea pigs?

Not too bad. Definitely didn't get the rave reviews or the desire for 2nd helpings from everyone that my cakes have received in the past, but they said it was good.

Personally, the cake had too much "fake cherry" flavor for my liking. The cake had barely any cherry flavor, but the glaze was a little too strong in the cherry flavor. Definitely not my favorite cake, and I probably won't be making it again. But, it was fun to experiment.