Cherry Cake made with whole wheat flour and finger millets!
As I had a lot of cherries to play with, I got into a “enjoy them” phase! So I had cherries fresh off the stalk. I made cherry compote. I made this awesome and rustic cherry frangipane.
And being a cake lover, of course I developed a special one for cherries! You have a choice of baking it with or without the fruit, as a cake or as cupcakes. Just enjoy!
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Conceptualising the cherry cake!
As you can see, I was indulging in a lot of eating. My excuse? “Cherries are in”!
So it had to be healthy, refined flour-free, and with cherries! But it also had to be absolutely delicious and moist. And for good measure, I decided to add my favourite way of getting pumpkin into my family…errr… yes! It had to have grated pumpkins in it! This hit cake recipe has pumpkins too and is a crowd pleaser as well. You’ve got to try it!
Thus began the quest for a good cake I’d be proud of. And this recipe came out of this wish list. However, I plan to make this cake with or without cherries, the texture is great. And the pumpkin? Just trust me and go with the recipe… no one will even know!
The baked and flavoursome cherries just perfectly blended with the chocolate I slathered on it… I barely had time to take this picture before it was devoured! You can opt out of the frosting if you wish.
Another tip is to use a set of mini doughnut cases like I did. The chocolate filling really pleases the eye and the palate when you bite into it! Topped with mocha butter frosting and some cherry compote, it is a feast for the senses! Take a look at the video below for some inspiration!
I also added a bit of refined sugar, but you can substitute it completely for the brown sugar, unrefined sugar or powdered jaggery also.
Cherry Cake
Course: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: WesternDifficulty: Medium10
servings15
minutes45
minutesIngredients
4 cups of atta (wholewheat flour)
2 cups ragi (finger millet flour)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 cups pumpkin (grated)
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar/ jaggery
2 cups milk
3 tbsp cream
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Optional:
Halved Cherries to line the cake at the base
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
Directions
- If you want to make the cherry layer, beat the butter and sugar well. Line the base of the cake tin with this mixture. Press the cherries (cut side down) firmly to stick. For the mini cupcakes, I used small doughnut cases, and just smeared it with oil.
- Sieve/ whisk the flours (atta and ragi) together with the cocoa and baking powder.
- In large bowl, beat the sugar, cream, oil.
- Add eggs and beat well. Now add the flours and the milk, mixing well every now and then to ensure proper mixing.
- Finally stir in the pumpkin.
Ensure you mix it all very well. - Pour into greased and dusted baking tins till 1/2 the volume is filled only.
- Bake at 150°C till it springs back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean. The baking time depends on the size of the containers and whether you make cupcakes or an entire cake.
- Decorate with frosting and/or filling to make it luxurious!
Notes
- I used two fillings to add to the flavours. A mixture of cooking chocolate and cream make up the darker one. And a frosting with coffee was the second one. You can choose any of this, or leave it out.
- It is fine to leave out refined sugar completely and use only powdered brown sugar for the cake.