Chocolate Cherry Nut Cake

Ingredients

2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
10 ounces bottle maraschino cherries, reserve liquid
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 unsweetened baking chocolate squares, melted
1/2 cup walnuts

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 deg. Grease and flour a 13x9" pan. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Put buttermilk, all of the reserved maraschino cherry syrup, egg, butter, vanilla and sugar into a food processor, cover and process until smooth. Add melted chocolate. Continue to process until well blended. Stop processor and add all of the cherries and nuts, cover and process until they are coarsely chopped. Pour batter into dry ingredients and mix gently by hand until well blended. Bake 35-45 minutes, cool in pan and frost if desired. Sprinkle some confectioners sugar on top.