Cherry Chip Cake with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
This cherry chip cake smothered in a fluffy whipped vanilla buttercream is an irresistible homemade version of the retro boxed cake mix favorite.
Growing up my mom let us choose what flavor of birthday cake we wanted. The bakery aisle at the grocery store had an endless selection of scrumptious looking cake mixes, and my choice was always cherry chip.
For those of you who have never had the pleasure, “cherry chip cake” is a pink cake filled with tiny bits of candied or maraschino cherries. It’s tender and light, with a subtle cherry flavor.
Table of Contents
- A homemade version of the retro favorite
- Ingredients you’ll need
- How to make homemade cherry chip cake
- My best cake tips
- More lovely cakes to bake
- Cherry Chip Cake recipe
A homemade version of the retro favorite
Whether you’re looking for a from-scratch recipe, can’t find the boxed mix on the shelves (it’s hard to find these days), or want to try a fun new cake recipe— this cake is a must try! I know you’ll love it.
This homemade cherry chip cake covered in whipped buttercream is soft and flavorful, and so pretty! One bite and you’ll agree, homemade is better!
Ingredients you’ll need
Let’s get baking! Here’s everything you’ll need to make this homemade cherry chip cake (full recipe at the bottom):
- Maraschino cherries
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg whites
- Cake flour
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Powdered sugar
- Heavy cream
How to make homemade cherry chip cake
- Chop maraschino cherries. A food processor is the best tool to finely chop the maraschino cherries, but a knife will work too. Make sure they are very small, as larger pieces will sink to the bottom of the cake.
- Prepare cake batter. This cake is made using the creaming method, where you beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then add eggs and flavorings, and then alternate dry ingredients with remaining wet ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix once you start adding the dry ingredients.
- Bake. Divide the batter between cake pans and bake until cake appears set and the center bounces back when gently pressed. Let cake layers cool completely.
- Make frosting. Beat frosting ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.
- Assemble cake. Layer frosting between cake layers and use the rest of the frosting to cover cake and decorated as desired. Garnish cake with maraschino cherries.
Then, enjoy! And I know you will.
baking tip:Why you should use cake flour
Cake flour is high in starch and low in protein. It’s the proteins in all-purpose flour that cause a cake to be tough if the batter is overworked, and cake flour helps to make sure that doesn’t happen. Use cake flour in a recipe when it calls for it and you’ll get tender cakes every time.
If you don’t have cake flour on hand, substitute 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour for 1 cup of cake flour.
My best cake tips
- If you’re new to baking layer cakes or need a little help, be sure to check out my complete guide for how to build a layer cake. It’s got everything you need to know!
- This recipe uses cake flour to achieve a light and tender crumb. You should be able to find it in the baking aisle next to other specialty flours. If not, you can make your own.
- You can use either 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans. (These are the pans I have and love.) 8-inch pans will yield a taller cake, 9-inch will yield one that’s wider. I baked this cake in 3 8-inch pans.
- Line the cake pans with parchment paper rounds to make sure there’s no sticking. Here’s all my tips for prepping cake pans before baking.
- If you need a little help frosting your cake like a (semi) pro, see my full tutorial.
- This cake can be made ahead several ways. The cake layers can be baked in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months (see my tutorial on how to store cake layers). The frosting can be stored at room temperature for several days, in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for several months. For best results, beat frosting until smooth before using.
More lovely cakes to bake
- Southern Coconut Cake
- Raspberry White Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Layer Cake
Note: this recipe was originally published February 2014.
Cherry Chip Cake recipe
Cherry Chip Cake with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
A homemade version of a favorite cake box classic – light and fluffy cherry chip cake frosted with whipped vanilla buttercream.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 10 ounce jar maraschino cherries (283 grams, about 30 cherries)
- ½ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (113 grams)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams)
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups cake flour (226 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ⅓ cup buttermilk (315 ml)
- 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
For the buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (226 grams)
- 4 cups powdered sugar , sifted (450 grams)
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (60 ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two or three 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving the juice. In a food processor or with a sharp knife, finely chop the cherries. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg whites one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a smaller bowl, combine the buttermilk and maraschino cherry juice. Add the flour mixture to the mixer in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Mix after each addition and scrape down the bowl as necessary. Stir in the chopped maraschino cherries.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool in the pans 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting and assemble the cake:
- Place the butter, sifted powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (alternately you can use a hand-held mixer). Mix on low speed until moistened, then increase speed to high and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Place one cake layer on a plate or cake stand. Cover with ½ cup of the buttercream frosting. Place second cake layer on top and cover tops and sides with remaining buttercream. Let firm up for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving.
- Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Calories: 612kcal, Carbohydrates: 92g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Cholesterol: 71mg, Sodium: 195mg, Potassium: 154mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 75g, Vitamin A: 837IU, Calcium: 85mg, Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review below or take a photo and tag it on Instagram @completelydelicious with #completelydelicious.
Oh my gosh, now I can’t wait for my birthday to be here so that I’ll have a good excuse to bake this super delicious-looking cake! I’m a huge cherry-lover and this cake looks like heaven to me…so girly, fluffy, decadent and full of fresh cherry flavor…Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe with us 🙂
xo, Elisa
Happy birthday Annalise!
I love how gorgeously girly this cake is! It looks absolutely delicious too.
Oh man, that whip looks so crazy good!!
Hi Annalise- Would this cake turn out well using a 13×9 pan? It looks so pretty!
I’ve not done it, but it’s possible! I wouldn’t fill the pan more than 2/3 full (you don’t want it overflowing), so if you have batter left over maybe make a few cupcakes? And I’m not sure about baking time, so I’d start checking it after 30 minutes. Good luck!
Just a note: all box cakes make either (2) 8″, (2) 9″, or (1) 9×13 cake, options are always given for the different times. You wouldn’t have enough batter for cupcakes too.
Thanks for that question! I was wondering about 9×13 pan as well!
Tried and failed, hard! Not sure why you say 2-3 cake pans at the beginning when this recipe would barely make 1. I baked it anyway while I washed the 3rd pan I prepared. This was now just an experiment of flavor. It ended up light and semi fluffy, but not at all worthy of a layer cake. Everyone agreed that it tasted more like pancakes than cherry chip cake. Glad I did this tonight instead of attempting it for tomorrow’s Easter cake. Maybe I’ll throw it into a parfait or server it as pancakes tomorrow
Hi Jay! I’m sorry this cake gave you trouble, what a bummer! But you should definitely have way more batter than just for one cake pan. If you’d like to try again and troubleshoot any issues, I’m happy to help. Feel free to email me at completelydelicious@gmail.com. 🙂
I’m so sorry something went wrong. I’ve made this recipe many times myself and it turns out beautifully,. Did you by chance weigh the flour? or if not at least pre-sift then spoon and level it? The reason I ask is, if it had too much flour weighing it down it would collapse the batter, or if you over mixed it could do the same. One other tip I suggest is taking about a quarter cup of your flour if you measured it out and tossing your cherries in it, that way I want to put them in it doesn’t weigh the battery down and they don’t sink to the bottom. If you decide to try it again plaease take her up on her offer to help. I can assure you this is a beautiful recipe and makes enough batter. Best of luck. 💕
Hi Pamela, thanks so much for your kind encouragement and helpful suggestions! 🙂
Happy Birthday! This is definitely a great cake to have on your birthday!
Thanks for the birthday wishes Meagan!
Happy Birthday girl! I hope your little man takes a long ole nap (you too!), you get your fair share of that cake, a huge piece of chocolate, dinner out (or at least your dishes done..), and a hot bath. Make it good!
Thanks Melissa! I did get a nap yesterday, but not the hot bath. Hmmmm, maybe I’ll have to do that tonight. Sounds fabulous! 🙂
I can’t wait to try this. Cherry Chip was always my sister’s favorite, I think I’ll make it for her birthday next month. Happy Birthday to you!
Thanks Kate! If you’re sister is a cherry chip fan like me she’ll go nuts for it! 🙂
Happy, happy birthday girlie! Now why didn’t I deliver a cake to YOUR doorstep today? For shame…Have a fantastic one! 32 never looked better.
Oh I’m so glad you didn’t, I’m on cake overload right now. And I never thought that could be possible. 🙂 Thanks for the birthday wishes, Heidi!
Love this story!! Hope you had a fabulous birthday!
I had a wonderful birthday, thanks to great friends like you! Thanks Becky! xoxo
OOh, this is great. It’s hard to find cherry chip cake mix in my area. My mother-in-law LOVES cherry chip and her birthday is coming up, so I think I’m totally going to make this for her!!
It’s been years since I’ve seen the cake mix in stores, maybe they don’t make it anymore? Either way, now you can make it without the box! 🙂
I can’t find the box mix of my childhood and after making this once…I will stop looking. LIGHT YEARS BETTER!
What the what! I had no idea you could make this with maraschino cherries. I always just thought of it as a boxed mix with little red…things. Kind of like dust pans and sporks and stuff. Where do they come from? No one knows. They just appear, fully formed, on the grocery store shelf. Now I know I am within one jar of maraschino cherries of this cake, you’d better believe it’s going on my try pile. Thanks!
Haha! Your comment makes me laugh. I had the exact same reaction when I first saw a homemade cherry chip recipe. 🙂
I made this for my sister’s birthday except for the frosting. I love this cake and so did my sister. It reminds me of the type of cake my grandma would make, not too sweet but sweet enough. At least for me the cake was very heavy but looking around, I see it’s my fault for it.
you mention cake flour do you mean self raising or plain flour in recipe ?
No, cake flour is a flour make with softer wheat and lower protein content, and therefore produces a softer product. Look for it in the bakery aisle of any well-stocked grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can sub in all-purpose flour without any adverse effects. Hope this helps!
How long would you cook this in cupcake form?
I haven’t tried this specific recipe, but I usually bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes. Hope this helps!
Hi Annalise,
My autistic brother’s favorite cake is cherry chip, and when I couldn’t find a mix at the store to make for his birthday, I checked online and found your recipe. It looked so good that I couldn’t wait to make it! I actually made two since there was a number of people at the party. I followed the recipe exactly and the cakes were gorgeous and delicious! Everyone loved them. I put a little red food coloring in the icing for one one them because my brother wanted a light pink icing. I left the other one white because I thought it was so pretty. Adding the whipping cream and mixing the icing for 5 minutes made it so much fluffier than any I had ever made before. Maybe sifting the powdered sugar helped too?Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe and for such great instructions. I will make this cake for him every year! P.S. I loves your story and hope you had a great birthday too.
Hi Jan! Thank you so much for the comment! I’m happy to hear that your brother and family enjoyed this cake as much as I did. 🙂
I have to chime in my “two cents” and say instead of red food color in the frosting, just a bit of the cherry juice will also tint the frosting pink. 🙂
i have to make a cake for my husband’s birthday this week. Was gong to make a confetti cake and then came across this recipe which I think he’ll like even more. I am preparing to make it now! Hope mine turns out so lovely as this picture!
This cake turned out fantastic! Now just to make the frosting and I will be all set for birthday celebration!
For some reason i followed the directions completely and for some reason its coming out really runny and dense and takes longer than 30 min. Wondering what happened…
Mine, also, turned out dense, took much longer to cook and the cherries all settled at the bottom. Not happy with it at all. Glad I did a trial run because I have to do a cherry cake for a little boy in a few weeks. Not sure I’ll try this one again or keep looking.
Be sure you didn’t leave the butter out to soften too long, the batter in most cakes counts on slightly softened butter, still cold and not shiny or empty. Usually just 10 minutes on the counter does the trick. Then it should cut easily. Also take about 1/4 cup of the Already measured flour and set it aside, after the cherries are drained and chopped, toss them in the 1/4 cup of the flour. It will keep them from sinking. I’ve made this many times and it always comes out great.
I can see why this was on your “best of” for this year! It’s gorgeous. Pinned twice- “Recipes to Try” and “Valentine’s Day”. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Happy New Year!
Thanks so much. Hope you get a chance to try it!
trying to understand if it is necessary to butter and flour the pans “and” put parchment paper on them? You put the parchment paper over the butter and flour ?
Yes, I do both. I butter the pan, line it with parchment, butter the parchment, and dust it all with flour. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the awesome recipe. Just to be clear, does the cake recipe yield just one layer of the cake or both? In other words, do I have to double the amounts above to make both 8-inch layers?
The cake recipe is for two layers!
Thank you for the clarification. Ended up making mini cupcakes instead. They were a huge hit at our party!
Do you have to use cake flour or is it ok to use all purpose? I’ve read a lot of people do not like the aftertaste of cake flour in baked goods and I’ve never used it before. Cherry chip is my son and daughter’s favorite. I’ve been searching everywhere for a homemade version. Thank you.
You can substitute all-purpose flour for cake flour, and I have done so in the past when I opened my pantry only to find I was out of cake flour. However, do expect some subtle differences. The cake will be a little less tender and a little more dense. Not very noticeable, but still different. For best results, I try to use cake flour whenever it is called for.
This looks amazing. I will try it soon.
Hi there! I was looking for a recipe to make for Valentine’s day this weekend & found this post, which sounds amazing! I’d like to make a 3 tiered, heart-shaped cake. I have the heart-shaped pans which are 6×2 inches. Do you happen to know if the measurements you have listed would work? I know that technically 2 8-inch pans do not measure the same as 3 6-inch pans, but possibly the shape difference plays a part. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Happy early birthday!
Hi Suzy! You can definitely use your pans. However, you may not end up needing all of the batter. I would prepare the batter as directed, filling each pan only half way. If you have any batter left over, you can always make a few cupcakes. Hope this helps, sounds like a fun Valentine’s cake!
Hi Annalise,
I was searching for a cherry chip cake recipe for a colleague whose bday is coming up and this is her favorite type of cake. She is allergic to gluten, so I will need to use gluten free flour… would you anticipate any adverse effects for this recipe? I know it may change the texture somewhat, but wondered if you have any gluten-free experience to share. Thank you for this recipe!!
Hi Siobhan! I have not tried this recipe with gluten free flour so I’m afraid I can’t offer any feedback on how the recipe will work using it. You can certainly give it a try!
I have tried making this cake three times in the past few months. Once for my wife’s birthday and two other times just because I could. It is an excellent recipe.
My only problem I’m having with it, is that the cherries keep sinking to the bottom of the pan while cooking. I’ve tried adding more flour, and I tried drying off the cherries with a paper towel before adding them. But they always end up in a single layer at the bottom of the cake. It tastes excellent, but still.
What am I doing wrong?
Hi Joseph! I have had that problem with pieces of cherries that were too large. Try to get all of the cherries chopped as small as you can without pureeing them. You can also toss the cherries with some of the flour used in the recipe to see if that will help.
Why not purée it?
Well if you puree it, it wouldn’t be “cherry chip”. It would just be cherry. But it’s something worth trying if that’s what you want!
Toss the tiny cherries in a bit of the flour you’re using. It’ll help them not sink down because it absorbs the water that comes out of the cherries as they cook.
Whenever I add nuts, choc chips, or fruit in to a batter I toss them with a little bit of flour before I fold them in. I learned it from Ina Garten years ago. I hope this helps with your cherries sinking!
So I made this cake for my daughters birthday and it turned out great. I did make a substitution though. I don’t like maraschino cherries. I found a 10 oz bag of frozen dark sweet cherries and used them instead. It made for a darker in color cake and maybe a little less sweet but everyone at the party loved it. I used my favorite butter cream recipe as well. I tried yours but it was sweeter than I like. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. The cake was great.
Thanks for sharing. I am about to ask if I can use fresh berries. Should I cut n freeze it beforehand?
Hi Yvonne, I’ve never made this cake with fresh cherries and I couldn’t tell you if it’ll work or not. Fresh cherries have more liquid in them than maraschino so some alterations will probably need to be made.
I love how light this cake is!!
However I did find it sank in the center, what would have caused that?
I was trying the cake out to see how it turned out for my daughters wedding shower. Would it be best for me to double up the cake batter and cut it in 1/2 to achieve my desired results. Wondering as the cake is very light, not sure how well it would cut without too much crumbling?
I plan on a 2 teir cake. The bottom to be a carrot cake (4 layers)and the top to be cherry chip. The bottom when completed will be 8″ by 14″ and the top 8″by 8″ rounds(4 layers). Completed with fondant.
Hi Suzanna! Unfortunately, a lot of factors can influence the cake and cause it to sink, and without being with you in your kitchen while you baked it, I couldn’t say for sure what went wrong. A few things I’d try – 1) open the oven door as little as possible, in fact I wouldn’t open it at all for the first 20 minutes. 2) Make sure the cake is fully done when you take it out of the oven. 3) Measure ingredients by weight instead of volume to ensure exactness. 4) Make sure your leavening hasn’t expired. As for baking a double-thick layer and cutting vs baking 2 cakes, that’s up to you. I have a hard time splitting cakes evenly so I would bake them separate, but that’s just me. Good luck!
What type of salt do you use?
For cake recipes I use regular table salt.
For a special Valentines or Mother’s Day variation, try a butter cream fudge frosting. If your birthday target likes chocolare covered cherries, this is also a nice surprise for them, too.
I made this as a test cake at a party to make sure my niece likes it for her wedding shower and it is amazing I have had multiple requests for it and yes my niece wants it for her shower ! The best recipe !! Thank you
Made this for my daughter’s 13th birthday yesterday and everybody loved it, especially the icing. My daughter says it’s her new favorite cake. Thanks for the recipe.
I attempted to make this cake tonight and it was a major fail. Somehow the flavor was not good. I did not use cake flour, used all purpose instead. The cake fell apart when I was trying to put it on a cooling rack. The buttercream frosting tasted like pure sugar! Maybe its just me but I was very disappointed. I had my hopes way up. The pictures were amazing but unfortunately the recipe failed me.
I don’t think it’s anything to do with the type of flour used. Mine to was a ” major fail ” watery, rubbery and poor flavor in general. I can’t seem to find ” all comments” can someone direct me please?
I’ve got a hunch, that it’s not just Shakira and I that had results?
Vicki, you can see all of the comments for this recipe here. As you can see a lot of readers have had success. So sorry to hear that the recipe gave you trouble! If you have any specific issues you’d like to troubleshoot, please let me know.
My family is stationed in Hawaii and I found I had to adjust all my “tried and true” baking recipes I’d used successfully on the Mainland. Most baking recipes require much less water here. When I forget to decrease the water in a recipe, my cakes and baked goods turn out heavy and dense. (At times I’ve added a little more flour instead, but that can get dicy.) Try decreasing your milk to 1 cup (or even less) and make sure your cherries are well drained before chopping them. Make sure the batter texture is what you would normally find in a cake recipe you know works for you.
My mom’s favorite cake is cherry chip, but I can never find the mix in the small town I moved to. I made a half recipe of this for her birthday this spring when she came to visit, and everyone loved it! Mom even asked for the recipe. I’m making it again this weekend as cupcakes for a bake-sale. So much better than the mix used to be!!!!
I can never find the mixes either, and I’m so glad we don’t need to! 🙂 Happy to hear your family enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for the comment!
I SOOOO prefer a homemade cake, but have made this in a pinch with a DH White cake mix, added chopped, drained maraschino cherries (and sometimes chopped nuts), a couple of tblsp of cherry juice for color, and occasionally a 1/2 tsp of almond extract. Bake as directed on the box. Again, homemade is better! 🙂
I’m going to make this tomorrow. Wish me luck! About every 10 years or so, my brother wants Cherry Chip for his birthday cake. This is the year and this looks like THE recipe. I’m excited. Thank you.
We found this cake to be way to sweet. If we give it another try will probably follow Kelsey’s tip of using dark cherries and not the maraschino cherries. The cake baked well.
Hi! Making this cake right now and hoping you see this message! I am using cherries from a large Costco-sized container. Any idea about how many cups or parts of cups the 10 oz bottle made?
My favorite cake that my Grandma made me while I was growing up was cherry chip cake. Haven’t seen the mixes in stores for years. Last week I made this cake for my 15 year old son’s birthday (he likes cherries) and it was wonderful!! If you follow the instructions, it should turn out just fine. The only thing I deviated from was that instead of stirring the bits cherry into the whole batter, I gently stirred them into the batter once I had poured the batter into the pans. Had cherries throughout. I bake A LOT and have rather discriminating taste buds, and I thought it was delicious. Thanks for posting this recipe!
Hi! Making this cake right now and hoping you see this message! I am using cherries from a large Costco-sized container. Any idea about how many cups or parts of cups the 10 oz bottle made?
Hi Sharon, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to respond sooner, but perhaps this will be helpful to others in the future. One 10-oz jar should hold about 30 cherries.
Yum, made this cake yesterday and it is delicious. Very sweet and moist. Instead of a layer cake, I divided the batter between two 8×8 pans…one cake for now, and one for the freezer. They turned out perfectly
Wonderful! Thanks for the feedback, Katherine!
I just made two of these cakes yesterday and I followed the recipe exactly how it was explained. My cakes tasted delicious but they did not rise. The color of the cake inside was not pink. I also had to bake mine for 40 minutes.
Do you find the brand of maraschino cherries you use to be important? The cherries in mine turned purplish after baking, and the cake did not turn pink at all… and I did not skimp out on the juice.
The same happened with my cake. I used all natural maraschino cherries with no added dye. I am wondering if that is why it didn’t turn pink.
Delicious and beautiful!!! I followed the cake recipe exactly (well, i may have thrown in a few more cherries). I only used 1/2 cup butter in the frosting, added a touch more almond extract and added a tiny bit of the cherry juice to make it pale pink. The cake was a big hit!
My birthday is Sat. & I’m excited to try this recipe. Cherry Chip Cake was my all time favorite for my birthday growing up. Sadly, it is no longer a choice in the cake mix variety. Thanks for sharing! ;-D
I don’t know if you’ll see this comment in time because I was asked to make this cake for a friends surprise birthday party for tonight. My question is, Why don’t you use the whole egg in this recipe?
Hi Sheila! This is a variation of a basic white cake recipe, and white cakes are typically made with just whites. It’s where their white color and light texture come from. Hope this helps!
Annalise, if this cake is made ahead of time (like the day before serving), does it not need to be stored in the refrigerator? I thought frostings made with whipping cream did need to be stored in the refrigerator. This cake is just beautiful!
Hi Jane! The frosting won’t go bad at room temperature because all of that sugar acts as sort of a preservative. That being said, I would probably store the cake in the fridge to keep it firm and fresh (and away from grabby hands) until you’re ready to slice and serve. Hope this helps. 🙂
The cake itself is good, although my cherry bits all sunk to the bottom, but the icing is WAY too sweet. It tasted like straight up powdered sugar… inedible.
Hi Jess! Classic American buttercream definitely isn’t for everyone, it does involve a lot of sugar. Maybe next time you could try Italian meringue buttercream? It requires a little more effort, but it’s not nearly as sweet.
Hey! I am going to make this cake for my wife’s birthday this coming Thursday. It is her very favorite box cake, and when I saw the recipe here online I decided I would test my hand at making her a home made version of it! I hope it comes out and tastes as good as yours looks!
Also all I have are two 9 inch pans? Would tbat work? Just check it sooner?
Yes, absolutely! I’d start checking the cake around 25 minutes just to be sure, but the baking times should be pretty similar. I hope your wife enjoys the cake! It’s one of my faves. 🙂
Hi I was just wondering if I could use glacé/candied cherries instead of maraschino cherries as they are hard to come by where I am?? Would this affect thecake too much please?
That should work just fine! The maraschino cherry juice is mostly for color, so you’ll want to add some red food coloring. Start with a half teaspoon and see if you need to add more. I’d probably also add an additional tablespoon more of buttermilk. Hope this helps!
Sorry I forgot to also also would I need to replace the maraschino juice with something t else.
Thank you
Thank you so much for publishing this recipe! Growing up, my mother would always make us “the birthday cake” for our birthdays. The birthday cake consisted of a layer of chocolate and a layer of cherry chip box cake with chocolate putting and bananas in the center and chocolate whipped cream frosting . After they stopped making the cherry chip box cake we had to switch to strawberry. I’m happy to say that today I just finished making the birthday cake from scratch with this recipe. It is absolutely delicious and took me back to my childhood!
Love this! Thanks so much for sharing, Cher! 🙂
This cake was so delicious and fun to make, and I was in need of your tip re dry and wet ingredients :I Thank you!
Annalise I have a question you might be able to answer. I always follow the directions to a T every time, but I tend to notice my cakes come out moist but crumbly! I hate it! I spend so much time decorating, and doing everything right, then when it comes time to cut it it just crumbles around the knife 🙁 I’ve googled the problem and seem to get a different answer every time. What am I doing wrong? I’m all about presentation as well as taste so this is so disheartening to me when it all falls apart and looks horrible. Thanks!
This cake looks delicious!
Growing up, Cherry Chip was my all time favorite! I’ve never made one from scratch and I was thinking about making this for a dinner part next Monday. A couple of questions…do you think the cake could be made the day before and frosted the next? Also, I wanted to pipe rosettes instead of trying to frost with a spatula…I was planning on doubling the frosting recipe you used…do you think this would be enough and do you think it would be fine to pipe?
Thanks for bringing back great memories of Cherry Chip cakes!
Hi Jon! I’m so happy you love cherry chip cake as much as me. 🙂 Yes, you can absolutely make this cake ahead! That’s how I do all my cakes to spread out the work. Cover each layer with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 5 days (or double wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. A double batch of frosting should be plenty for the rosettes. Sounds lovely!
Awesome! Thanks for the advice on baking ahead. Will save me so much time on Monday!
If you don’t mind another question…do you think this cake would be ok to frost on a Sunday and serve Monday night? If so, would you keep it in the fridge and just bring it out a couple hours before serving?
I’m funny about doing things in advance thinking it won’t be “fresh”…LOL
Yes, it should be fine! And yes, store in the fridge and let come to room temp for about 1-2 hours before serving. Should still be very fresh! 🙂
I just came across this recipe because I was in need of a cherry chip cake for my 32nd birthday after the bakery we’ve been going to my whole life refused to make it this year. Thank you for this, it was fun to make and everyone loved it! I am officially breaking up with the bakery and doing this from here on out. 🙂
I made is this cake last year for my sons second birthday! It was a HUGE hit! I then got a request to make them for my nieces birthday, and HUGE hit and lots of people wanting the recipe. I’m making them again today for my sons third birthday! This has possibly became on of my favorite traditions for his birthday! Add a slice with some vanilla ice cream and it’s pure HEAVEN! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!
I made this cake and it was pretty good but the icing along with the cake was way too sweet. I think I would reduce the number of cherries or decrease the amount of sugar in the cake as well. It did look very pretty and was decently moist though.
Has anyone tried this in a half sheet pan? (11×15)? I was thinking about doubling the recipe??
I baked this cake on a Wednesday – how many days will it last? I didn’t use the icing recipe, just the cake recipe. I have people coming on Sunday and I know other cakes I make will be good for 5 days but wasn’t sure about this one. And should it be in the fridge if I am storing it that long?
Hi Tracy! This cake will be freshest within the first few days after baking, but will keep in the fridge for at least 5 days. You can also double wrap in plastic and freeze, and then thaw in the fridge the night before you want to serve. Hope this helps!
How many days will this last?
I have the cake in the oven and just sifted the powdered sugar. It says 4 cups or 900 g. When I sifted 900 g it’s more than double 4 cups. I looked at a bag of sugar and it is 907 g with 30 1/4 cup servings. Something seems off with the equivalent. Should I just use 4 cups ?
Just wondering if this recipe can be used for a 13 x 9 pan instead of the 2 8″?
Hi Tracy! Yes you can use a 13 x 9 pan, though make sure you don’t fill the pan more than 2/3 full. Start checking at about 35 minutes.
Can two 9in pans be used or would i have to double it to get a nice height?
Thank you.
You can definitely use two 9-inch pans without doubling. The cake will have less height, but will still be beautiful. 🙂
Hi! Is it possible to omit the almond extract for allergy purposes? Or woud the flavour of the cake be off ?
Definitely possible!
Hi Im making this for my best friends birthday and was wondering if youd make any alterations when making cupcakes instead? Thanks
This recipe should work fine for cupcakes! Just be sure to only fill cups 2/3 full and checking after 12-15 minutes. Hope this helps! 🙂
the other bloggers added milk but you didn’t. Would it be more moist or what was the difference?
I use buttermilk instead of milk – more flavor!
If I don’t have 2 – round pans (they are packed in boxes) can I use an angle food cake pan?
I’ve never made a traditional cake recipe in an angel food cake pan so I couldn’t give you any tips or modifications. You can always bake in a 9×13 inch pan!
I just made this cake for a friend’s birthday. It was awful. Texture was way off. I threw it out. I thought the batter was too wet and I was right.
I made the frosting but didn’t add as much sugar. I also included some chopped cherries and a bit of the syrup and left out the extract. It was very good. Will rebake a different version tomorrow so I can use the frosting
Any adjustments for high altitude? We already had to pitch one – my 8″ rounds weren’t tall enough and it overflowed all over the inside of my oven. Making it again with 9″ rounds.
Hello, wondering if there is any adjustments for high altitude?
I’m actually at 5,000 ft and this is the recipe I use! If you’re higher or looking for some options do a simple google search for high altitude adjustments and give those a try.
I too asked my Mother for Cherry Chip Cake with boxed Fluffy White icing every year for my birthday. It was to die for. The best part was the crunchy cherry chips. I WISH the Boxed Cake Company would make those cake mixes again instead of strawberry.
I made your cake a while back and it was delicious! Granddaughter and hubby loved it. I’m going to make it tonight for another grandchild’s Birthday. It’s heaven!! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Made this last week and it was DELICIOUS! The batter was so light and airy that I was worried I had messed up but it baked up beautifully. I made a Swiss Meringue buttercream to go with it since it’s not as sweet as a regular buttercream. It’s definitely on the saved recipes list.
Yay! So happy to hear you loved the cake!
Hi, I baked this cake today and it did not turn out, there was a 1/8th of an inch layer of rubber cake. I consider myself a competent Baker, and I have looked over the recipe several times and I follow directions? I didn’t read through all the comments but I’m wondering if anyone else had any problems and what I might have done wrong?
Hi Jennifer! I’m so sorry you had issues with this recipe. Unfortunately, without being with you in the kitchen while you were baking, I can’t say what went wrong. If you want to try it again, I’d be happy to troubleshoot with you! Feel free to send me an email completelydelicious@gmail.com
Light and fluffy this cake is not. I carefully weighted my ingredients and followed the mixing instructions. Got an oven thermostat to make sure about cooking time. My cake was not great, either in texture or flavor.
Picture shows it three layers but directions say two pans, going to make this on Saturday, is it two or three pans?
You can use either 2 or 3 pans, or even 4. It depends on the look you’re going for. Hope this helps!
This is a little late in coming, I used three 7″ pans which I bought several years ago and I find I’m so much happier with. MOST recipes are portioned for two pans, then they show you a picture of a cake with three layers and that requires that you make 1.5 times the recipe which is so frustrating!!! That was not the case here, in fact I was so happy to find specifics like two Tablespoons of juice and 30 cherries-since I bought a larger jar of cherries-I’d have been calculating the difference between 10 ounces and 16. For that reason too, I’ll spend more time on this site and see what else there is to be found that is wonderful If you like the look of three layers all the time…you might want to invest in three smaller pans 7″ pans
THAT SAID this recipe will work with 2 or 3 beautifully, its such a good recipe (the science is good and I hope you found that to be the case) it really can tolerate a lot of options. One note, when doing three 8″ vs two–you might find you need more frosting.
Just made my first cherry chip cake since I was a little girl and made cupcakes from a Duncan Hines Cherry Chip Mix. Needless to say I’m not sad they stopped making the mix. It was my birthday cake in quarantine so I needed it to be extra special and make up for the fact that I was having my birthday alone this year. The batter was so light and fluffy I felt sure it would deflate with the addition of the cherries but that didn’t happen, It baked up beautifully, I made a three-layer cake using 7″ cake pans
From the very first bite, it was delicious, buttery, not too sweet, just the perfect balance and very moist and fluffy. I have to say…spending my birthday alone in quarantine AND trying to replicate a childhood memory was a pretty tall order for a cake, but I’m happy I took the time, and so happy with the results. It didn’t disappoint.
I made this for my twin sons birthday they loved it! So for Mother’s Day I made the cake with chocolate frosting my mom’s favorite candy is chocolate covered cherries so it was a big hit for her too. Cake is so light we all love it
This recipe has made it to my favorites!! I’ve made it for graduation parties, it’s been requested for birthdays and just because. Love it. I have to say Thank you for sharing ?
Every year my husband always asks for the Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake his birthday. It is the only time I ever use a cake mix…after today…not anymore. I made this cake for his 50th birthday and it was a hit!!! No more cake mix!
Thee absolute best cake recipe! I’ve been using this recipe for a few years now and it’s always a big hit ! Light and fluffy. Frosting is AMAZING!! Thank you for sharing this recipe
I made this cake as cupcakes for valentines to take to a bible study and everyone loved them. I used cherry frosting which paired together perfectly. Thank you for a wonderful recipe. This is one of my favorite cake recipes. I can’t wait to make it as a cake. I really liked the cherry chip cake mix that you could buy,but this is so much better.
I made this recipe in three pans. They were thin as pancakes and overdone because they were so thin. I have reread the ingredients and instructions several times and don’t understand how they turned out so horrible. The texture was not like a cake at all. I’m very disappointed. The color and the cherry chips look beautiful though.
Hmm, what size cake pans did you use? It sounds like the bake time wasn’t adjusted, thinner layers will need less time, and I’m sorry if the instructions weren’t clear about that!
Simply amazing. Thank you!!
My girlfriend loved it.
This recipe is great! So much better than a boxed cherry chip cake. It is moist and delicious, perfect for cakes or cupcakes
Made this cake and it was great! Used two nine inch cake pans. Made a swiss meringue buttercream instead of American buttercream – I thought American would be to sweet for us. It was perfect and a hit!
My daughter is gluten intolerant and she loves cherry chip cake. I found this recipe and I use all purpose gluten free flour instead of regular flour. This is her new favourite. She loves this cake. It’s so much better than the boxed cake mix. The rest of the family couldn’t tell that it was gluten free. Thanks for this recipe you have made my daughter so happy. 😀❤️
Hands down this is an excellent recipe! I’ve made this cake year after year for a friend’s birthday! The cake is super moist and the almond with the cherries is just the best!
Was tasty but heavy and flat. Then I read other recipes for classic white cake made with buttermilk and egg whites, and those recipes called for egg whites whipped to stiff peaks and gently folded into the batter as last step before filling pans.
Tried it myself and went very well, Loved your recipe
Loved it! Made it for my 30th anniversary. My favorite and you can’t find it in store anymore. Thank you much for sharing how to make this great cake
I made this cake today for my son’s 17th birthday. It was amazing!!! The frosting was so yummy and easy to work with to frost the cake. My husband and 3 kids loved it. Followed the recipe exactly.
Love this recipe it works awesome for just a vanilla cake too!
Fortunately, I was watching the 3 layers bake and saw that they were done way before the time specified (which must be for 2 thicker layers).
Are the gram measures accurate? I went by gram weight and it seems like it was off. Batter was runny.
Gram measurements are correct, and yes, it is a runny batter. Did they cakes turn out okay?
13×9 pan works great. I baked mine @350 for 25 minutes. Turned out perfectly.
In the recipe, you said you baked this cake using 3 8” rounds so I decided to do that as well. My cake layers are only about an inch thick. I wish I would have doubled the recipe because now I have to do something different for this birthday cake!
I used this recipe to make cupcakes since I was on a time crunch and they are delicious! I added chopped walnuts but stuck to the recipe and it was perfect. Next time I’ll try baking it as a cake 🙂
This cake is a HUGE flop. Followed directions exactly, no substitutes. At 50 minutes, cake was still jiggly, texture was awful. Sad to have wasted ingredients.
The yield of this cake is exceptionally low and it just tastes like a white cake. Not bad, but not what the goal is with a Cherry chip cake. If you compare the ingredients to cake recipes from credible sources like Stella Parks, Claire Saffitz or Smitten Kitchen there is like half the volume of ingredients. This recipe is NEVER going to result in a high layer cake.
I made this yesterday and will use it for cake pops or to as an add-in to homemade ice cream or something. I ended up having to make another cake (used Stella Parks’ Rocky Mountain White cake with some tweaks to cherry chip-ify it).
Not worth making, won’t try any other recipes from this site. I guess this is what happens when you stray into the food blogger world were there is no guarantee the recipes have been tested properly.
Hi Clair! I’m sorry to hear you are disappointed in this recipe. It is not at all advertised as a being a high layer cake, but more of an old-school style recipe. Which size cake pans did you use? If you used 9-inch, then yes, your cake will be very short and wide. I almost always use 8-inch cake pans for that reason.
Also, I take issue with your claim that recipes in the “food blogger world” are sub-par. Especially since both Stella Parks and Smitten Kitchen are food bloggers. I stand by the recipes on my site, though I will concede that this cherry chip recipe is almost 10 years old and probably due for a re-test to make sure it still works the way I had intended it to.
I wish you all the best, and if you ever want to troubleshoot baking issues you can always reach out to me at completelydelicious@gmail.com.
LOVE IT!
I made this tonight and it turned out really yummy! I did put 1/4 C. of the flour in with the chopped up cherries before I mixed them into the batter and they definitely didn’t fall to the bottom. I added some of the cherry juice and pink food coloring to the frosting. Cake was very moist and springy. My family loved it!
I am an accomplished baker and rarely leave comments. This is a really nice little cake! Moist and flavorful. I made it in three pans. The butter cream is easy to make with a perfect consistency. I colored the icing light pink. Even had enough icing to pipe a border on top. Will definitely make again.
Made this cake with cake flour And it was anything but light….. It was really dense and kind of crumbly…. I was hoping for more of a white cake, but inside it was more brown than I was expecting.
Easy to follow recipe. Turned out beautifully. Sifting and cake flour make a difference!
I should have bought a mix…it was a waste of $20 of ingredients….such a weird texture…..save your time and money….skip this one! Straight to the trash….
Made this for a friends birthday and although it tastes good, it’s very flat layers. I did everything to the book and was gentle handed with mixing. I did do the 3 8inch pans but I think the recipe should only say to use 2 since it’s not a lot of batter. So sad that it’s flat cake and I can’t remake at this point.😢
Hi Emily, thank you for the feedback and I’m sorry you had trouble with this recipe. Do you mean flat like not very tall? Or flat like the cake layers aren’t domed? I have received other feedback for this recipe and will be testing it again soon.
I know this is old, but are we sure that the 4 cups is 900 grams of powdered sugar?? That’s like 2 pounds. It seems like that measurement may have been doubled.
Yep, that is definitely a typo. Yikes! Thank you for bringing that to my attention, it’s now been fixed. 4 cups of powdered sugar is 1 lb or about 450 grams. Thanks again, Kathy! 🙂