a lovely living

Over the past few years I’ve become quite a fan of making bundt cakes. In part, I’d say it’s because they look beautiful, but in all honesty it’s mainly because they are much simpler to prepare than making full blown cakes, and taking the time to ice and decorate them. I’ve also been fascinated by the Mix and Match Mama’s list of 100 Bundt Cakes. I literally want to try 75% of them. This week we’re celebrating my mother’s birthday which provided the perfect reason to try this Chocolate Cherry Coca-Cola Cake that I had been eyeing. I adapted the recipe a bit by adding some chopped moschino cherries, a fav of hers and a perfect addition to this cake. And since I didn’t have grenadine on hand, I used cherry juice which seemed to work perfectly as a substitute. If you’re a Cherry Coke (or Pepsi) fan, you’re going to love the subtle yet delicious flavor of this cake!

Recipe adapted from the Mix and Match Mama:

Chocolate Cherry Coca-Cola Bundt Cake:

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
1 small box of instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup of veggie oil
1 1/4 cups Coca-Cola, plus an additional few splashes for the frosting
4 eggs
3 tablespoons Grenadine, divided (optional)
1 dozen (approx) moschino cherries, chopped
4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 10 inch bundt pan

In mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, 1 1/4 cups Coca-Cola, 2 tablespoons Grenadine, cherries and eggs with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes. Then, invert cake onto serving plate to finish cooling.

To make the frosting, beat butter with powdered sugar, cocoa powder and a few splashes of Coca-Cola and the remaining tablespoon of Grenadine until creamy. Stir in vanilla. Spread on cooled cake.