So today is my husband’s birthday. Not only is it my husband’s birthday, but it’s his “Champagne Birthday” (or Grand Birthday or Golden Birthday or Star Birthday according to Wikipedia), which means he is 31 on the 31st. So let’s eat cake! Chocolate and cherry is one of his (and one of my!) favorite combinations, so I knew this would be a hit just like my Black Forest Icebox Cake! I’m writing this before the actually day, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that to celebrate his birthday he will be waking up before the crack of dawn, probably leaving before the kids wake up, going to work 12-14 hours, coming back after they go to sleep. This is how our summer/fall goes. There’s a saying my husband likes that goes like this: “Being self-employed is great — you only have to work half days. You get to choose which 12 hours of the day you work”. Now with both of us being self-employed, our schedules can get a little crazy! Meanwhile, I’m single-momming it to two kids and trying not to lose my mind. And as crazy as it is, it means that in the winter and the spring there are a few glorious months where all 4 of us are home together. It means that I can leave the house — ALONE — to go to the grocery store or just out. It means that we can spend more time together and have a lot more flexibility the rest of the year. So this cake. I actually made this cake a long time ago — months and months ago — to bring to a family dinner. My brother-in-law was diagnosed with Celiac disease (I know I say this with every GF recipe!) so it’s opened my eyes to gluten free baking options and I love to experiment with it. This cake was something I just threw together to bring over. I probably used — GASP — whipped topping and canned cherry pie filling, and it went over extremely well! It is one of those things you can’t believe actually works, because it is SO good and can fool any gluten lover. But this time I wanted to bring you something really special, and there is nothing like real whipped cream and fresh summer cherries. The cake recipe is based off of this Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake, and it is my favorite gluten free cake recipe to date! It is so simple and you don’t need any special ingredients (other than certified gluten free oats if you’re serving someone with Celiac disease). Feel free to mix up the toppings as you like — there’s so much room to experiment with this cake base! Also, my apologies for the 6 photos! Cherries are just so dang pretty. Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again. Register Now Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel — I love to see what you’re making!
