bomb-ass black forest cake

Let's start with the fact that I'm not a great baker. I'm a pretty good cook, but baking is not my thing. But that doesn't stop me from trying. I don't necessarily think that everything needs to be made from scratch. If there's a decent cake mix available I'd much rather use that than have to measure everything out.

This black forest cake started out with a gluten-free chocolate cake mix. It was a brand I hadn't used before, so I was a little hesitant, but I figured I'd go for it anyway. I made the cake mix as directed and poured it into an 8-inch square pan. I drained and added about half a jar of sour cherries, poking them into the mix so that they weren't just sitting on top. The directions said to cook it for 45 minutes, but it needed about 13 minutes more, possibly due to the addition of the cherries.

The key to this cake though was the frosting. Usually black forest cake calls for whipped cream frosting, but I was in the mood for something richer, so I used a homemade cream cheese frosting:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Courtesy: Allrecipes.com

That frosting absolutely made the cake. It took a lot not to lick the frosting bowl clean.