Scary Cherry Cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 box white cake mix, plus eggs, oil, and water needed to prepare
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 small box (3 oz) Cherry Jell-O

Whipped cream

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream (cold)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Ganache

• 2 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup OR honey
• 21 oz can cherry pie filling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 8 inch cake pans and set aside.
2. Prepare cake batter, pour into pans, and bake as directed on box. Let cakes cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool for 30 more minutes.
3. Once 30 minutes has passed, line the cake pans you used previously with plastic wrap. Place cakes back in the pans, on top of the plastic wrap -- this is so the Jell-O doesn't make the cakes stick to the pans later, so make sure some plastic wrap hangs over for easier removal.
4. Pour Jell-O in a bowl and add boiling water, stirring for a few minutes until dissolved. Stir in COLD water.
5. Poke holes in surface of the cakes with a fork or a wooden skewer. Pour Jell-O mixture over the cakes, half over one and half over the other. Cover cakes with plastic wrap and refrigerate, preferably overnight.
6. Remove cakes from pans and peel off plastic wrap. Use a serrated knife to remove any dome from the tops of your cakes so that they are level. Place one cake, top side DOWN, on a plate.

Prepare whipped cream

1. Using a metal mixing bowl and whisk mixer attachment that have been chilled in the freezer for 5 minutes, beat heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar on high speed until a stiff whipped cream is formed. Frost the top of the cake on your plate, then top with your other cake round, also placing it top side down. Frost entire cake and place it in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare ganache.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, heat chocolate and cream, stopping every 20 seconds to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in corn syrup and honey and let cool and thicken for about 10 minutes.
3. Remove cake from refrigerator. Pour ganache on the top center of the cake, carefully spreading it just to the edges and letting it drip down. Chill cake until the ganache has firmed and set, then top with cherry pie filling.