Cherry Chip Cake: A from-scratch recipe that has bits of maraschino cherries inside of the cake batter, and it's frosted with a delicious pink frosting.
pink food coloringoptional - not used in the photos you see
Instructions
Cherry Chip Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (or 177 degrees C).
Grease and line 2 8” round cake pans or 3 6” round pans (6” pans were used for the photos).
In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Mix until well combined.
Add the Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, and cherry juice. Mix until well combined.
In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
Alternatively, add a small amount of the flour mixture and then the milk. Continue to alternatively add the flour and milk until it’s all added.
Add in the chopped Maraschino Cherries and fold them in so they’re well distributed throughout the cake batter.
Pour out the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (or 177 degrees C) for 30-32 minutes (for 6” round pans) to 32-36 minutes (for 8” pans). Check the cake by putting a toothpick in the middle until it comes out clean.
Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 15 minutes. Then, remove the cakes from the pans and place them on a cooling rack to cool for another 15-30 minutes until cooled completely.
Cherry Frosting
While you’re waiting for the cake to cool you can make the frosting.
In the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add the room-temperature butter and 2 cups of powdered sugar. Stir to combine.
Slowly add the grenadine, whipping cream, salt, and almond extract. Stir to fully combine.
Slowly add in the rest of the powdered sugar to thicken up the frosting. Add in enough powdered sugar until you gain the consistency you like when decorating a cake. **You will want the frosting to hold its shape but not too stiff that you can’t spread it over the cake.
NOTE: To enhance the pink color you can add some additional pink food coloring. **This is completely optional and not used in the recipe featured.Once fully mixed, transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a round tip. Set aside.
Preparing the Cakes for Decorating
Level each cake out by slicing the top “dome” off the cake. You can discard this or eat it while decorating.
Frosting the Cake
Add a small dollop of frosting on to the cake stand. This will help keep your cake in place.
Place the first cake layer on a cake stand and then pipe some frosting on the cake. Using an offset spatula, even out the frosting so it’s evenly distributed.
Place the next layer on top and pipe more frosting on the next layer and then even out the frosting. Repeat this process until you’ve frosted each layer of cake and your cake is fully frosted.
Optional step: Using a star tip, pipe a dollop of frosting on top then place a maraschino cherry on top. Repeat this process 7 more times so you have a total of 8 dollops and 8 cherries. You can also pipe some flowers or shells at the base of the cake for extra decoration.
Notes
Best practices:
Do not frost the cake while it’s warm, the warm cake will melt the frosting.
Try to add between ¼” to ½” of frosting between each layer.
Cutting the “dome” off the top of the cake will help create a layer cake that doesn’t lean and stands straight.
When measuring out the flour you can either weigh the flour (for exact measurement) or spoon the flour into the measuring cup then level out the flour. Avoid dipping the measuring cup into the flour so you don’t use too much flour.
When frosting the cake you can add a thin layer on the sides of the cake called a crumb coat, then chill the cake and add another layer of frosting this will give you a clean frosting look without any crumbs being added to the cake.