Cherry Chocolate Chunk Upside Down Pound Cake + Cherry Coke Syrup
If Cherry Garcia ice cream were a cake, this would be it.
This pound cake is everything you want it to be—creamy, soft, dense, infused with almond and vanilla extracts, rippling with melty chocolate chunks, and baked with juicy, jammy cherries on the bottom. Topping it with the cherry Coke syrup is unnecessary but unnecessarily delicious.
Note, I adapted this recipe from Southern Living so the cherries/chocolate baked better.
Cherry Chunk Upside Down Pound Cake + Cherry Coke Syrup
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cherry Chunk Upside Down Pound Cake
1 lb. unsalted softened butter + extra for the pan
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
4 cups + 2 tbs. all-purpose flour + extra for the pan
3/4 cup + 1 tbs. milk
2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, cut into rough chunks
12 oz. frozen cherries, thawed, drained, and squeezed out for excess juice
Preheat oven to 300ºF. Butter a 10-inch bundt or tube pan to get every crease and inch. Then spoon some flour into it and rotate the pan to cover the entire pan with flour - dump out excees flour and set aside.
Beat 1 lb. softened butter until light and fluffy, almost white in color — this could take 5-10 minutes — scraping the sides as needed. Beat in the sugar until creamy and fluffy. Turn the speed to medium and whip in 1 egg at a time until fully mixed in before adding in the next. Add in the almond/vanilla extracts and salt. With the mixer still going, add in flour 1 cup at a time, alternating with splashes milk. Finish with the rest of the flour and stop beating once it is absorbed. Remove from mixing machine and fold in the chopped chocolate.
Spread the drained cherries into the bottom of the prepared pan to make an even layer. Scoop the batter into the pan on top of the cherries and smooth the top into an even layer. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes — check with a toothpick to see if it removes clean — if not, bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, place on a rack, and let cool completely. Flip out of the pan onto a platter once cool. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with cherry coke syrup below.
Cherry Coke Syrup
1 can or bottle of Cherry Coke
In a small pot over high heat, pour the coke in and reduce until a thin syrup (similar to agave syrup or maple) has formed — it will thicken more as it cools.
