Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray.

Place the cake mix, 1 can cherry pie filling, the eggs, oil, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 to 35 minutes. While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze.

Place the sugar, butter, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips and stir until the chips have melted and the glaze is smooth. Pour the remaining can of cherry pie filling over the top of the cake and spread evenly. Then pour the glaze carefully over the cherries so that it covers the entire surface of the cake. The glaze will be thin but will firm up. This is good at room temperature and is also good cold out of the fridge. Enjoy!