Some people say less is more, but not me! I say more is more, and with this cake — you definitely want more!

Here’s what you need for the cake:

I mix the ingredients in my KitchenAid mixer with paddle attachment in this order: (Or you can do it by hand. — If using a mixer, you may want to stop from time to time in order to scrape down the sides of the bowl.)

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp Canola oil (Or vegetable oil, or XLOO — Whatever you prefer.)

1 cup = 1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup brewed coffee — cooled.  (I brew extra in the morning and save it for the cake.)

1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Once ingredients are mixed well, pour the batter into a lightly oiled 9″ round cake pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until you can poke the center with a toothpick, and have out come out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Here’s what you need for the icing:

Combine in mixer with whisk attachment:

 1/4 cup brewed coffee – cooled

2 TBSP Meringue Powder (or powdered eggs – both are found in most grocery store baking aisles and are fairly inexpensive.)

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups powdered sugar

Once the cake has cooled, frost it accordingly. You may need to stir the icing again before hand, as it is a hard-set icing.

Here’s what you need for the caramel sauce:

Combine in small sauce pan on medium heat:

1/4 c brewed coffee

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp bourbon

1 tsp vanilla

Simmer on medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

remove from heat and add:

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk. (I use skim, but use what you like.)

Once you have blended the cocoa and milk to the mixture, put it back on medium heat for about 2 more minutes. It will likely bubble a bit — this is fine, just be careful to stir it to avoid having it bubble over the pan.

Remove from the heat, and let it sit for about 5 minutes to cool and thicken.

Once it has cooled, drizzle the sauce over the top of the cake, and save the rest to drizzle over individual pieces.

Enjoy!

Here’s what you need for the filling:

1/2 cups cherries (I used a 12 oz bag of frozen cherries, thawed.)

2 cups sliced peaches (I used a 16 oz bag of frozen peaches, thawed.)

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp Kirsch (Or any cherry flavored brandy)

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Here’s what you need for the biscuit topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans (sub for almonds if you’d like, or leave them out if you don’t want to include nuts)

2 Tbsp cornmeal

2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup milk (I use skim)

2 – 4 Tbsp canola oil or XLOO. Use 2 tbsp if you like the topping more dense and biscuit like, use 4 if you prefer it to be more cookie like. — I’ve made this before without any oil, and it is a little crunchy, but still tastes great! Make it how you prefer it.

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place fruit in a medium sized mixing bowl. In another bowl, combine all other filling ingredients. Once blended, add the mixture to the fruit, and lightly stir to coat the fruit pieces.

Pour fruit mixture into an ungreased 8″ x  8″ square baking pan.

Make topping:

In medium mixing bowl combine all of the biscuit topping ingredients starting with a spoon or fork, and when a dough starts to form, finish mixing it by hand. Once the ingredients have formed a solid dough, break off “tablespoon-ish” size pieces, and place them on top of the fruit mixture. Do not cover the fruit completely. place on the middle rack of the oven.

Baking times will vary depending on the fruit. — If you use fresh, it should only take about 40 minutes to bake. If you are using frozen, for some reason, even when I think the fruit has thawed completely, it takes much longer to cook. Check the cobbler at 40 – 50 minutes. You may need to let it bake for 60 minutes. You will know the cobbler is done when you can lift a section of the biscuit topping slightly with a butter knife, and it does not still look doughy. Let it cook until the dough is thoroughly done, and the top is golden brown.

Top with strawberry ice cream (or any flavor you prefer.)

Enjoy!