This Sour Cherry Chocolate Tonka Bean Christmas Cake is deliciously moist, rich and decadent. Tonka beans give a unique flavor, something between vanilla and cinnamon. The cake is topped with the silkiest chocolate cream, named Namelaka, which means ”smooth” or ”creamy” in Japanese. The sour cherry filling brings the perfect balance adding extra flavor and texture. It is a delightful cake, beautifullly decorated in winter spirit which makes it a perfect dessert for Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
How to prepare Sour Cherry Chocolate Tonka Bean Christmas Cake
First, you must prepare the Namelaka cream. You can make this in advance, even with one or two days, so you don’t have to wait for it. For this, you have to bloom gelatin in cold water. Bring milk with glucose to a boil. In case you don’t have glucose, you can consider leaving it out for this recipe. Add bloomed gelatin and vanilla extract and pour the mixture over the white chocolate. Stir to melt the chocolate. Add cold whipping cream to the chocolate mixture. Cover with plastic film directly onto the surface and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
You can prepare the sour cherry filling and the chocolate tonka cake during this time.
For the sour cherries, you can use either fresh or frozen. Bring the sour cherries with sugar to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, add the cornstarch dissolved in water and cook for 5 minutes more. Let cool completely.
Prepare the chocolate tonka cake
The recipe for chocolate tonka cake is an easy recipe that I love, which results in a moist and rich chocolate cake. We have used it in various desserts like Chocolate Rose Cake or Chocolate Mocha Fault Line Cake and Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.
For this dessert, the chocolate cake is enriched with tonka bean, but you can also leave the tonka bean out if you don’t like it or don’t have it on hand.
As soon as the cake is cooled, you can start assembling the cake. Hollow out a little bit of the inside and fill it with the sour cherry mixture. Whip the chilled Namelaka cream and pipe it or spoon it on top of the cake. Decorate as desired.
Hope you will try this easy and delightful Sour Cherry Chocolate Tonka Bean Christmas Cake. Let me know if you do, tag me on Instagram and enjoy as we sure did!
Other Christmas desserts you may like
You may also like this Chocolate Coconut Bûche de Noël, a great chocolate festive dessert that everybody loves. This Gingerbread Orange Cake Roll is simply bursting with Christmas flavor and has a beautiful Christmas decoration. This Cranberry White Chocolate Meringue Roll is another delicate cake perfect for Christmas consisting of a meringue roll with a white chocolate and cranberry filling.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Winter Cake
Red Velvet White Chocolate Cheesecake
Pistachio Raspberry Lime Mousse Cake
Sour Cherry Chocolate Tonka Bean Christmas Cake
Ingredients
Makes about 10 servings
Tonka Pound Cake
- 2 ½ tbsp (35ml) vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup (75ml) buttermilk
- 3/4 cup (90g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp (25g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp (5g) ground tonka
- 1/2 tsp (2.5g) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp (2.5g) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (1g) salt
- 1/3 cup (75ml) hot coffee
Sour Cherry Filling
- 5 oz (150g) sour cherries , fresh or frozen
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- 1 tsp (5g) cornstarch
- 2 tbsp (30ml) cold water
Namelaka Cream
- 3 tbsp (40ml) milk
- 1/2 tsp (2g) glucose
- 1/4 tsp (1g) vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp (2g) gelatin powder
- 2 tsp (10ml) cold water
- 4 oz (110g) white chocolate, chopped
- 2/3 cup (160ml) whipping cream
For Decoration (optional)
- Christmas tree sugar/gingerbread cookies
- sugar-coated red currants
- crispy pearls
- fresh rosemary
- cake balls truffles (from the remaining chocolate cake crumb)
Instructions
Prepare the Namelaka Cream.
- You can make this cream a day or two ahead so you don't have to wait for it.
- In a small bowl bloom the gelatin with cold water. Leave in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- In a small saucepan bring the milk and glucose to a boil.
- Add vanilla extract and gelatin to milk and pour over the chocolate.
- Stir until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is homogenized.
- Add the cold whipping cream.
- Mix with a hand blender to get a shiny mixture.
- Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic film directly onto the surface and let it sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
- After 6 hours, mix the cream with a hand mixer at low and then medium speed for about 1 minute. You should get a soft and shiny cream, ready for piping.
Prepare the sour cherry filling.
- Put the sour cherries and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- In a small bowl mix the cornstarch and cold water.
- After the sour cherries and sugar are boiled for 5 minutes, add the cornstarch mixture and boil for another 5 minutes.
- Set aside to cool completely.
Prepare the tonka chocolate pound cake.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease and line an 8½ x 4½-inch (21×11 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Place oil, sugar and egg in a large bowl, and stir to combine.
- Add the buttermilk to the oil mixture.
- In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and salt.
- With the mixer on low, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the oil mixture.
- Carefully pour the hot coffee into the batter and mix to combine.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow cooling completely in the pan.
Assemble the cake.
- Cut a lid off the cake loaf and hollow out a little bit of the inside, just enough so you can make some cake pops for decoration.
- Fill the empty space of the cake loaf with the sour cherry filling.
- Fill a piping bag with the namelaka cream. You can use whatever nozzle tip you prefer or just a spoon. Then gently pipe all the cream over the cake.
- For decoration, you can make leftover cake pops covered in chocolate, sugar-coated red currants or cherries, sugar cookies, sprinkles, or anything you have in mind. Be creative! And have a wonderful Christmas!
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Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @homecookingadventure on Instagram and hashtag it #homecookingadventure.
