Chocolate Cherry Molten Cakes w/ Glazed Fresh Cherries

It's Cherry Season at the Market!

 Swoon!! Gasp!! C*H*E*R*R*I*E*S!!




Instead of the traditional cherry tart, cherry pie or cherry clafouti (cherries in a custard type mixture), I thought I'd appeal to your chocolate loving side. You do have one of those don't you?

I got the idea for this recipe from the Australian cooking magazine called Donna Hay.  At $10 an issue, it's a splurge, but honestly, it's worth it.  The recipes and ideas are a little more inventive and there are fewer ads....



This cake is so easy and rich I am sure it will quickly become one of your "go to" desserts when you want to impress your friends.... or if you feel like indulging in chocolate therapy with a sad/happy movie.

I used local cherries in two applications for this dessert: Pitted, slightly cooked, the others are whole and glazed.   It may sound like a little work, but really it's quite simple. The hardest part is pitting half of the cherries and making sure you have enough at the end of the process!

Your first step is to complete your cherry pitting when everyone in the house is asleep,  my family kept sneaking the pitted ones.  I don't have a cherry pitter, so I used a very sturdy straw to push the pits out.

Second, buy about 3 more pounds of fruit then you actually need (1/2 lb., or 2 cups),  I kept having to sample them to ensure they were as good as I remembered ( really, is testing every 4th cherry considered excessive?).

Chocolate Cherry Molten Cakes w/ Glazed Fresh Cherries

Makes: 6, 1-cup cakes

           12, 1/2-cup cakes

7 oz. unsalted butter

2 cups good quality dark chocolate, chopped

4 eggs

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 All purpose flour, sifted (I have used almond meal or Coconut flour for my GF Friends and they both work well)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup poached cherries (Recipe follows), or canned in natural juice.

1 cup glazed cherries,  garnish (Recipe follows)


Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.


Butter and sugar your ramekins, AND spray them lightly with nonstick cooking spray or a little vegetable oil after you have sugared them.


Melt butter and chocolate over low heat and stir until combined and completely melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.


In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, sugar and pinch of salt together until sugar begins to dissolve, about 1-2 minutes.  Whisk in sifted flour, combine completely. Whisk in cooled chocolate and combine thoroughly.


Place ramekins on sheet pan ( for easy transport to and from oven), fill ramekins half way with cake mixture, top with a few poached cherries, 2-4, and cover with more cake mix.  I filled mine to  3/4 full (some with a bit more).  Bake for 15 minutes for 1-cup size, and for 10-11 minutes for 1/2 cup size.  The tops of the cakes should be cooked and puffed, but the center should be gooey.  Run a thin knife around the sides and invert onto a serving place.  Top with glazed cherries and serve immediately.  
** As the cakes sit, they continue to cook .. they are still great but the gooey center is not so prominent.   You can also make the batter and fill the ramekins and hold them for a few hours in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.  Enjoy!


See you at the market!


Chef Deb T.

Poached Cherries

I make quadruple this amount and serve them on French Toast, or Ice cream.

1 cup, pitted local cherries

2 Tablespoons sugar, or agave nectar

3 Tablespoons water

2-4 Tablespoons Cherry Liqueur (optional.. I use Leopold BroS. Michigan Tart Cherry Liqueur..  

       it's produced and bottled in Denver, CO.. so..it's Local!!)
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Add cherries and Liqueur (if using) and simmer until fruit begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove cherries from the heat and allow to cool.  Try not to eat more then half as you will not have enough for your dessert.

Glazed Cherries

1/4 cup Cherry Liquer

1/4 cup water

1/2 sugar

1 cup cherries, whole, stems intact

Combing sugar, water, and liqueur in a small sauce pan over medium high heat and cook until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to thicken, about 7-8 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in cherries, set aside to cool.