Double Chocolate Cake with Cherry Cheesecake Swirl

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Using a stand or hand-held mixer, beat until smooth and then mix in the buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet until the mixture is thoroughly combined.

Make the swirl mixture by combining the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beating until completely smooth. Mix in the cherry preserves by hand but there’s no need to thoroughly combine. The mixture should have a red and white swirl effect.

Butter and flour a loaf pan and pour in half of the chocolate batter. Pour the cherry cheese swirl mixture over it and top with the remaining chocolate batter. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the batters together slightly.

Bake in the preheated 350 F oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove pan fro oven, set it on a rack and allow cake to cool completely before turning out of the loaf pan.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze by combining the melted butter, milk, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt and confectioners sugar in a bowl and whisking until completely smooth. If you’d like a thicker glaze, use one less tablespoon of milk. Pour over the top of the cooled cake and top with the chocolate chips.