Homemade Cherry Chip Cake
You can make Homemade Cherry Chip Cake with no boxed cake mix! It's flavored with maraschino cherries, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
Servings: 12
Calories: 643kcal
Equipment
- Mini Food Processor or food processor (optional)
- Piping Bag optional, to decorate cake
- Decorating Tips optional, to decorate cake
Ingredients
Cherry Chip Cake
- 8 ounces maraschino cherries stems removed, if applicable (make sure to reserve the juice)
- 1 ¾ cup cake flour (see note)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ⅔ cup buttermilk (see note)
- ⅓ cup reserved maraschino cherry juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup softened unsalted butter
- ¼ cup canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- pink or red food coloring optional
Cherry Vanilla Frosting (see note)
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup whipping cream or heavy cream, divided
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons reserved maraschino cherry juice
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla or regular vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- pink or red food coloring optional
Instructions
Cherry Chip Cake
- Prepare 2 9-inch round cake pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and greasing, then lightly flouring the sides. Tap out any excess flour. Move the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325°F.
- Drain 8 ounces maraschino cherries and reserve the juice. Remove the cherry stems, if applicable. You should be left with about 3/4 cup (150g) of whole maraschino cherries. If you have more, remove some to equal 3/4 cup. Place the cherries in a mini food processor (or a full-sized food processor if that's all you have) and pulse until the cherries are finely chopped (alternatively, chop them by hand with a chef's knife). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cup cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon table salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together 2/3 cup buttermilk, 1/3 cup reserved maraschino cherry juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Set aside.
- Cream together 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter at medium-high speed until the mixture is pale yellow and grainy. Add 1/4 cup canola oil and 2 large eggs and beat again until the mixture is pale yellow and creamy-looking.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, and mix (starting at low speed and slowly increasing to medium-high speed). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add half of the buttermilk mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and repeat with the remaining 2/3 of the flour mixture, and the remaining half of the buttermilk mixture (if using red or pink food coloring, add it with the second half of the buttermilk mixture, a little bit at a time until your desired color is reached)
- Fold the chopped maraschino cherries into the batter with a spatula until they are evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter evenly into the two prepared baking pans (it's helpful to use a kitchen scale to make sure each pan gets the same amount). Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it.
- Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in their pans, then remove the cakes from the pans and cool to room temperature on a cooling rack (about 30 minutes).
Cherry Vanilla Frosting
- Add 1 cup softened unsalted butter and 1/8 teaspoon table salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the butter on medium-high speed until it's very soft and starting to look fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Add 1/4 cup of the whipping cream and turn the mixer on to low, slowly increase the speed to medium-high until the cream is mostly incorporated with the butter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and repeat with the remaining 1/4 cup of the whipping cream.
- Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar and turn the mixer on low speed. Once most of the sugar has been moistened, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed until the sugar is all incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and repeat 3 more times until you have added a total of 4 cups of powdered sugar.
- Add 2 Tablespoons reserved maraschino cherry juice, 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and red or pink food coloring, if using, and mix on medium-high speed until incorporated. Add one more cup of powdered sugar, and turn the mixer on low speed until most of the sugar has been moistened. Increase the speed to high and beat until the frosting is very light, pale, and fluffy looking. Scrape down the sides to make sure there are no lumps or unmixed bits of butter. Assess the texture and flavor of the frosting. If you want your frosting to be stiffer (and sweeter), add the final cup of powdered sugar and mix until it's fully incorporated.
Frosting the Cake
- Place one of the cakes with the flat side (the side that was touching the pan) up. Spread about 1/4 of the frosting on the top of the cake only. Place the second cake flat side up on top of the other cake.
- Spread about 1/4 to 1/3 of the remaining frosting on the top of the cake. Spread this frosting in a thin layer all over the top and sides of the cake. This will be your crumb coat to lock all of the crumbs in place - it doesn't really matter what it looks like for now. Place the crumb-coated cake in the fridge (or the freezer if you're in a rush) until the crumb coat has solidified slightly.
- Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and the sides of the cake in a thicker layer, being careful this time not to get any crumbs in the frosting. Smooth it out or use a cake spatula to create swoops in the frosting if you wish. If there's any excess frosting, you could use a piping bag to pipe rosettes or any other decorations you wish to use. Feel free to use any excess maraschino cherries to decorate too.
- Cut the cake into slices and serve at room temperature. If there are leftovers, store the cake covered at room temperature for up to 12 hours, or in the fridge for a day or two. To store leftover cake long-term, cut the cake into your desired slice size then place the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and freeze for at least 2-4 hours. Transfer the cake slices to a zipper bag or airtight container and put this back into the freezer. Thaw individual cake slices at room temperature for at least an hour before serving.
Notes
If you don't keep cake flour on hand, use a mixture of 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180g) plus 1/4 cup cornstarch (28g).
If you don't have buttermilk, you can use a mixture of 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt and 1/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup milk, or 2/3 cup regular (non-Greek) plain yogurt. You could also use 2/3 cup soured milk (1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to equal 2/3 cup), or powdered buttermilk (follow the instructions on the package).
Note that if you plan to use a lot of frosting to elaborately decorate the cake, I recommend to double the frosting recipe (or at least multiply it by 1.5) or use something else to fill the cake (pudding or custard might be a good option).
Nutrition
Calories: 643kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 295mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 79g | Vitamin A: 811IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 1mg
