The Chukar Kitchen with Alyson: Black Forest Cake

I was strolling through Pike Place Market on a visit from Southern California last fall, looking for a change of scenery and a new job. While meandering between the fresh flowers and the Chukar Cherries booth, I glanced up to see Chukar’s “now hiring” sign. A job in Pike Place Market? Wow. When I found out it was an Assistant Manager they were hiring, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe that I’d found a responsible, all natural, family oriented company that deals primarily with cherries. And even better, within a few weeks, I was working for them!

Since beginning with Chukar Cherries, my kitchen has become increasingly “cherryfied.” My passion for cooking began when I was in elementary school. My school’s decision to switch to year-round scheduling meant I was home during months like October and February. I was always prone to mischief and my mother kept me occupied by teaching me to cook.

My mother is Singaporean Chinese, so we ate homemade Chinese food just about every night. She almost always cooked outside on a wok burner and I would often drag a step stool from the garage to the backyard and stand behind the backsplash to get a bird’s-eye view of everything she was doing. She taught me how to cook with “a pinch of this and a spoonful of that” instead of measurements.

Now that I’m on my own, I’ve found my kitchen niche—baking. I throw a handful of Chukar dried cherries or chocolate-covered cherries in any brownies, cookies, or cakes I mix up. I use our Raspberry Cherry Preserves on pancake breakfasts and our Chocolate Cherry Dessert Sauce on ice cream sundaes. I use our Peach Cherry Salsa on black bean and rice tacos and Cherry Pomegranate Chutney on roast chicken breasts and pork chops. Now, anytime I am making dinner or looking for recipes, I think to myself, “can I put cherries in that?”

Here’s a recipe for my Black Forest Cake (inspired by Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” cake) using Cherries Jubilee Dessert Sauce and Black Forest Cherries.