Cherry Chip Cake
This pink cherry chip cake frosted with fluffy 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 from the mixes available at the store. The bakery aisle had an endless selection but my choice every year 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. Frosted with classic buttercream, it’s an absolute dream! And it’s a favorite of mine to this day.
Table of Contents
- A homemade version of a retro favorite
- Ingredients you'll need
- How to make cherry chip cake
- Recipe tips and FAQs
- Cherry chip cake recipe
- More cake recipes
A homemade version of a 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! This homemade cherry chip cake covered in whipped buttercream is soft and flavorful, and so pretty. I know you’ll love it!
Recipe note! After some reader feedback about issues with this cake, I have completely re-worked this recipe. It is now better than ever! With more thorough instructions and tips, and fool-proof results. Originally published February 2014, fully updated February 2025.
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— you’ll need one 10-oz jar
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg whites
- Cake flour— necessary for a super tender and fluffy cake
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla extract and almond extract
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Powdered sugar
- Heavy cream
How to make cherry chip cake
- Chop maraschino cherries. Fully drain away the juice, pat dry, then use a food processor to chop them very fine. 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, and gently fold the cherries in just until combined.
- 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. If you want pink frosting, simply add a little leftover maraschino cherry juice.
- 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.
- Slice and enjoy! You can serve the cake right away, and it’s best within a day or 2 of baking. Store it at room temperature, but if your kitchen is warm or you want cleaner slices, you may want to store in the fridge.
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 can 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’re setting yourself up for success every time.
If you don’t have cake flour on hand, substitute 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for 1 cup of cake flour. You can also simply just use all-purpose flour, cup for cup. The results won’t quite be the same, there’s not the same guarantee of success, but you’ll likely still have a delicious cake.
Recipe tips and FAQs
- Use a food processor to finely chop the maraschino cherries, as it will result in the most uniform sized “chips”. Make sure they are chopped very small, as larger pieces may sink to the bottom.
- Use cake flour! 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.
- Dairy and eggs should be at room temperature. Pull them from the fridge 30-60 minutes before you plan to bake. This helps cakes have the best rise and softest texture (more info on why room temperature ingredients matter here).
- I prefer 8-inch cake pans for this recipe. Use 2 or 3 pans, depending on the look you want. You can use 9-inch pans, but know the cake layers will be much thinner.
- 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— how to keep cakes from sticking to the pan, how to bake even cake layers, how to frost a cake, and more!
- 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.
Cherry chip cake recipe
Cherry Chip Cake
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 oz (283 grams) jar maraschino cherries
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter , softened at room temperature
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- 4 large egg whites , at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups (375 grams) cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup (340 grams) buttermilk , at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
For the buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter , softened at room temperature
- 4 cups (450 grams) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (56 grams) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Drain the maraschino cherries thoroughly, reserving the juice, then pat dry. In a food processor (or with a sharp knife), pulse the cherries several times until they're finely chopped. They should be about the size of large sprinkles (larger chunks will sink to the bottom). Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two (or use baking nonstick spray) or three 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. (Note: for only two layers you'll need cake pans that are 3 inches deep or cake may overflow in the oven; never fill cake pans more than ⅔ full.)
- 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, 3-4 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. Add maraschino cherry juice to buttermilk and stir until light pink. 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.
- Gently stir in the chopped maraschino cherries until they're evenly distributed through the batter, but do not overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake until center domes slight and springs back when gently pressed with a finger, about 30-35 minutes (25-30 minutes if you're baking 3 layers as they're thinner). 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, 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 ½-1 cup of the buttercream frosting. Place second cake layer on top and cover tops and sides with remaining buttercream.
- Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If your kitchen is warm or you prefer firm slices, store in the fridge.
Video
Notes
- Butter, buttermilk and egg whites should be at room temperature for best results. Your cake will be taller and fluffier! Pull them out about 1 hour before baking, but note that eggs are easier to separate when cold.
- Make sure to measure flour correctly with the spoon and level method, or use a digital scale for most accurate measurements.
- Store leftover eggs yolks in the fridge for about a week, but they also freeze well. Whisk 4 egg yolks with 1 teaspoon of sugar (this helps the yolks not gelatinize) and store in a ziplock bag for up to 1 month. Thaw in fridge before using in other baking recipes.
- How to ensure cherry chips don’t sink to the bottom: make sure they are uniformly chopped very fine. Use a food processor and pulse 7-10 times and scrape down the sides as needed. Then make sure they’re evenly distributed through the batter. They are sticky and like to cling together!
- If you want pink frosting: Add 1 tablespoon of reserved cherry juice and reduce heavy cream to 3 tablespoons.
Calories: 563kcal, Carbohydrates: 81g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 68mg, Sodium: 150mg, Potassium: 133mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 63g, Vitamin A: 809IU, Vitamin C: 0.02mg, Calcium: 71mg, Iron: 0.4mg
Have you tried this recipe?I’d love to hear about it! Leave a rating and review below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram @completelydelicious with #completelydelicious.
More cake recipes
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!
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
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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?
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.
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 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.
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 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
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.