Description
A delightful Cherry Chip Cake featuring a moist white cake studded with chopped maraschino cherries and enhanced with cherry juice, topped with a smooth cherry buttercream frosting. Perfect for celebrations or a sweet treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake
- 15.25 ounce white cake mix
- 10 ounces maraschino cherries chopped, save juice (save some cherries for garnish)
- ½ cup butter
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup cherry juice reserved from above
Cherry Buttercream Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 pounds powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice from above
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking the cake.
- Melt Butter: Melt ½ cup of butter until fully liquid; set aside to cool slightly.
- Prepare Cherries: Rinse and dry off your maraschino cherries, then chop them and save some whole cherries for garnish. Reserve the cherry juice for the batter and frosting.
- Mix Cake Batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the white cake mix, chopped cherries, melted butter, 3 eggs, ½ cup milk, and ½ cup reserved cherry juice. Stir until well combined.
- Prepare Pans: Spray two 8 or 9-inch cake pans with non-stick spray to prevent sticking.
- Divide Batter: Evenly divide the cake batter between the two prepared pans, smoothing the tops.
- Bake Cake: Bake the cakes for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool Cakes: Let the cakes cool slightly in the pans, then remove them onto wire racks to cool completely.
- Make Frosting: In a large bowl, combine softened unsalted butter, powdered sugar, 6 tablespoons milk, and 2 tablespoons reserved maraschino cherry juice. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Assemble Cake: Place one cooled cake layer on your serving plate, spread a generous amount of frosting on top, then place the second cake layer over it.
- Frost Cake: Frost the entire cake evenly with the remaining buttercream.
- Decorate: Using a piping bag with a star tip, pipe frosting around the top and bottom edges of the cake.
- Garnish: Decorate the cake with the reserved whole maraschino cherries.
- Serve: Slice and serve your beautifully decorated Cherry Chip Cake.
Notes
- For best results, allow the cake layers to cool completely before applying frosting to prevent melting.
- You can substitute the white cake mix with a homemade vanilla cake recipe if preferred.
- If maraschino cherries are not available, you can use glacé cherries as a substitute, but flavor will differ slightly.
- Use unsalted butter to control the salt level in your cake and frosting.
- Adjust the amount of cherry juice in the frosting to reach your desired consistency.
- To save time, the butter can be softened in the microwave in short bursts instead of chilling at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 40 g
- Sodium: 280 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 58 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 75 mg
