Christmas Chocolate Cake

Christmas can be done without a two-tier winter village cake. Of course, Christmas is also very simple with a refined Christmas Chocolate Cake with gingerbread and other delicious spices. Quickly pour a dash of cocoa polish on top and garnish with cranberry and rosemary. Sometimes it can be that simple.

Ingredients for Christmas Chocolate Cake:

For the sponge mixture:
1 jar morello cherries
2 tbsp sugar
100 ml mulled wine
150 g soft butter + a little for the mould
150 g brown sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
3 eggs
225 g flour + a little for the mould
1.5 tsp baking powder
30 g cocoa, unsweetened
1.5 tsp gingerbread spice
1 tsp cinnamon
100 g high-quality chocolate (min. 77 %), chopped, not too fine
50 ml sparkling mineral water

For the chocolate icing:

20 g cocoa, unsweetened
60 g icing sugar, sieved
1 pinch gingerbread spice
a little milk
Sugar sprinkles mix
Gingerbread men

Instructions:

For the mulled wine cherries, drain the cherries. Put the sugar in a non-stick pan and let it caramelise over a medium heat. Then deglaze with mulled wine and stir until the caramel has dissolved. Add the cherries and simmer for another 5 minutes. Cover and leave to infuse until they have cooled down.

Preheat the oven to 350°F top/bottom heat. Grease the baking tin and dust with flour.

Beat the butter, brown sugar, vanilla sugar and salt until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Mix the flour with the baking powder, cocoa, gingerbread spice and cinnamon.

Drain the cherries, reserving the mulled wine and make up to 100 ml with mineral water.

Stir the flour mixture together with the liquid into the butter-egg mixture. Carefully fold in the chopped chocolate.

Pour 1/3 of the batter into the tin, spread 1/3 of the cherries on top and cover with another 1/3 of the batter. Spread 1/3 cherries on top again and cover with remaining batter. Spread the rest of the cherries on top and press them in lightly.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes. Don’t forget to test with a stick. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Then turn out of the tin. Leave to cool.

For the cocoa icing, mix the icing sugar, cocoa and gingerbread spice and stir gradually with a little milk to make a thick icing.

Pour the glaze over the cooled cake.