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This Cherry Chip Cake is dotted with maraschino cherries and infused with cherry juice. A thick buttercream frosting is layered between the cakes to turn this into a decadent and show-stopping dessert.
They don’t make Cherry Chip Cake mix anymore but you can still recreate that delicious cherry-studded cake right at home with this easy and scrumptious recipe! White cake mix combines with a few ingredients and chopped maraschino cherries to create a fabulous cake that gets layered with an amazing cherry buttercream. This cake is always a showstopper.
Why This Is The Best Cherry Chip Cake Recipe
Here are a few reasons why this cake is one of my favorites.
- SO much cherry flavor. Chopped maraschino cherries are folded into the batter and the juice is added to both the cake and the topping. There’s a good amount of cherry flavor in every bite of this cake!
- Moist cake texture. Adding cherry juice, butter, and milk to the cake mix helps ensure that the cake is super tender and moist.
- Easy to make. I decided to start with a white cake mix instead of making this completely from scratch. It keeps the prep super simple and easy.
- The frosting! This cake is layered with cherry buttercream frosting. It’s flavored with cherry juice which adds a beautiful pink color in addition to the cherry flavor.
What You’ll Need
Since this recipe utilizes a white cake mix to start, each part of the recipe requires just a few ingredients. Maraschino cherries are the most important, of course! The exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Cake
- White cake mix – White cake mix keeps the recipe simple but allows the pink color to shine through more than yellow or vanilla cake.
- Maraschino cherries – Be sure to save the juice for other parts of the recipe and save a few cherries for garnish.
- Butter – Adds richness to the cake.
- Eggs – Adds structure to the cake.
- Milk – Adds moisture to the cake. Whole milk or 2% work best.
- Cherry juice – Reserved from the maraschino cherries to add the pink color and cherry flavor to the cake.
Frosting
- Unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature. I prefer unsalted here to not add any saltiness to the frosting.
- Powdered sugar – Stabilizes and sweetens the frosting.
- Milk – Helps to achieve the perfect frosting texture.
- Cherry juice – Reserved from the maraschino cherries used in the cake to add pink color and flavor to the frosting.
How To Make Cherry Chip Cake
This layered cherry chip cake is so easy to make! The printable version of the instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Melt 1/2 cup of butter. Rinse and dry off the cherries, making sure to reserve the juice for later. Spray the cake pans with non-stick spray.
- Make the batter. Combine the cake mix, chopped cherries, butter, eggs, milk, and cherry juice until smooth and combined. Pour evenly into the two cake pans.
- Bake. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool slightly then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting. Combine the frosting ingredients in a large bowl until evenly combined.
- Frost the cake. Place one cake on a plate. Top with a generous amount of frosting then add the second cake layer. Frost the sides and top of the cake completely. Transfer the remaining frosting to a piping bag and use a star tip to pipe additional frosting around the bottom and edge of the cake. Garnish with any reserved cherries.
Tips for Success
Here are a few things I’ve found important when making this cherry chip cake.
- 8- and 9-inch pans both work. I’ve made this cherry chip cake using 8 inch pans and 9 inch pans. Both work great. The layers in the 8 inch pan are just a bit thicker than the layers in the 9 inch pan.
- Roughly chop the cherries. The maraschino cherry pieces should be roughly the size of a chocolate chip. Big enough to taste and know what you bite into one but small enough to be evenly dispersed in the batter. I sometimes use a food processor to chop the quickly.
- Reserve the cherry juice! It’s important to keep the cherry juice when you drain the maraschino cherries, as it adds color and flavor to both the cake and the frosting.
- Cool completely before frosting. Let the cake layers cool completely to room temperature before making the frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt and the cake layers will slide all over each other during assembly.
- Variations. Add in a teaspoon of almond extract for a flavor boost. Feel free to mix in semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips.
Proper Storage
- Fridge. Cherry chip cake is best stored in the fridge. I like to keep it in a cake carrier but any airtight container will do. It stays fresh for up to 4 days.
- Freezer. Individual slices can also be frozen. I like to flash-freeze them on a baking sheet and then wrap them tightly in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge.
More Cherry Desserts
- Cherry Pie Bars
- Cherry Garcia Cake
- Chocolate Cherry Fudge
- Cherry Bread Pudding
- Cherry Blossom Cookies
Cherry Chip Cake
This Cherry Chip Cake is dotted with maraschino cherries and infused with cherry juice. A thick buttercream frosting is layered between the cakes to turn this into a decadent and show-stopping dessert.
Servings: 16 slices
Ingredients
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 your oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt your ½ cup of butter.
- Rinse and dry off your cherries.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the cake mix, chopped cherries, melted butter, 3 eggs, ½ cup milk and ½ cup cherry juice.
- Spray two 8 or 9 inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- Divide the cake batter between the 2 pans.
- Bake the cakes for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool slightly and then remove from the pans onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cakes are completely cooled you can make your frosting.
- In a large bowl combine your softened butter, powdered sugar, 6 tablespoons milk and 2 tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice.
- Place one cake on your cake plate and top with a good amount of the frosting and spread out.
- Top with the other cake.
- Frost the cake completely.
- Using a piping bag with a star tip pipe frosting around the top and bottom edge of the cake.
- Garnish with reserved cherries.
- Slice and serve!
Last Step:
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Nutrition
Calories: 529kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 254mg | Potassium: 71mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 76g | Vitamin A: 605IU | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 1mg
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