This cherry vanilla cake brings together the delightful flavors of vanilla and cherries in a wonderfully moist layer cake all topped off with cherry vanilla frosting.
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This cherry vanilla cake is surprisingly simple and incredibly delicious. This cake has the perfect balance of sweetness and a hint of tartness and it’s an ideal choice for any occasion because it’s both easy and beautiful.
What’s special about this cake?
- Moist texture
- Simple and easy to make
- Unique flavor fusion of vanilla and cherries
- Creamy frosting with vanilla and cherry flavor
How to make this cherry vanilla cake:
(The full printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease or spray a 13×9 inch baking dish and set aside.
Step 2:
Make sure to set the cold ingredients out, so they can come closer to room temperature before making the batter.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
Step 3:
In another bowl, add the cherry yogurt, chopped cherries, ⅓ cup reserved maraschino cherry juice and vanilla extract. Whisk well and set aside.
Step 4:
In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter and the sugar and mix with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for two minutes until light and fluffy.
Step 5:
Add the eggs one at a time, and mix on medium speed for just 20 seconds after adding each egg.
Alternately add in the dry mixture and the liquid mixture to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry mixture.
Be very careful only to mix until just combined.
Step 6:
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for approximately 30-35 minutes. Ovens vary.
Step 7:
Remove the cake from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool completely while you make the buttercream.
Step 8:
To make the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, add the butter, cream cheese, salt and vanilla and mix well with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth.
Add the confectioners sugar and mix on medium-high until smooth.
Check the consistency. If the frosting is too thick, add a teaspoon of the cherry juice, mix well and test again.
If you’d like the frosting to have a pink tint to it, feel free to add a bit of gel food coloring and mix again.
Recipe
Cherry Vanilla Cake (13×9)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (Measured correctly: Spooned into the measuring cup and leveled off – don't scoop and pack the flour into the cup, that will add too much flour.)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup cherry yogurt, near room temperature
- 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, chopped and drained – reserve the juice (make sure the stems are removed)
- ⅓ cup reserved maraschino cherry juice, save about a tablespoon for the frosting
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
For the frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons cherry juice
- pink food coloring (optional)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease or spray a 13×9 inch baking dish and set aside.
- Make sure to set the cold ingredients out, so they can come closer to room temperature before making the batter. This will keep the batter from clumping up and will help it mix better.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the cherry yogurt, chopped cherries, ⅓ cup reserved maraschino cherry juice and vanilla extract. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter and the sugar and mix with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for two minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed for just 20 seconds after adding each egg.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again on medium, only until everything is well incorporated.
- Alternately add in the dry mixture and the liquid mixture to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry mixture.
- (Add in ⅓ of the dry mixture and mix on medium just until combined. Add in ½ the liquid mixture, mixing on medium only until combined. Add in another ⅓ of the dry mixture, mixing on medium only until combined. Add in the last of the liquid mixture, mixing on medium only until combined, then the last of the dry mixture and mixing on medium until combined.)
- Be very careful only to mix until just combined. Mixing too long and at too high of a speed can cause the cake to come out dense, rubbery or to fall in the middle.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again only for 7-10 seconds or so.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for approximately 30-35 minutes. Ovens vary.
- The cake is fully baked when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean, but no raw batter.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool completely while you make the buttercream.
For the frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter, cream cheese, salt and vanilla and mix well with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix on medium-high until smooth.
- Check the consistency. If the frosting is too thick, add a teaspoon of the cherry juice, mix well and test again.
- If you'd like the frosting to have a pink tint to it, feel free to add a bit of gel food coloring and mix again.
- See the notes section for best ways to store this cake, serve it and for more questions.
Notes
Nutrition
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Tips & FAQs:
Yes, however using cherry flavored yogurt adds more cherry flavor to the cake.
Unsalted is best as it has less water content than salted, however if you can’t get it, then just use salted butter and omit the other salt that the recipe calls for.
This is so that the ingredients will mix better together. This will give the cake the best texture. If some ingredients are cold, then it could clump up the butter and the ingredients just won’t mix together as well.
Yes, use any buttercream you like.
This cake is done baking when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean, but no raw batter.
Because this cake has cream cheese frosting (and a bit of fruit in it), it will need to be stored in an air-tight container or covered well in the refrigerator. It can last up to 6 days.
I have not tested this recipe out as cupcakes, but it may work. If you’d like to try it, just fill 2 cupcake pans (24 cupcakes) with cupcake liners and fill with batter about ⅔ of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees F and start checking for doneness at around 20-25 minutes.
Yes, probably although I have not tried that. If you do try it, pour the batter into two, 8-inch round baking pans and bake at 325 degrees F and start checking at around 30 minutes or so, however it will probably take a bit longer to finish baking.
Probably although I haven’t tried it out. If you do try it, make sure to grease and flour the bundt pan very well so that it doesn’t stick. Bake at 325 degrees F for the same amount of time although it will likely take longer to bake since a bundt pan is deeper.
Do not pull it out until the cake is fully baked. The cake will be firmer to the touch and not jiggly and a toothpick inserted into the cake will come out either with a few moist crumbs on it or clean.
Yes, however if you want to bake this recipe in two, 6-inch pans, you don’t want to use all the batter as it might overflow the pans since you’ll be using smaller pans. Pour the batter about ⅔ of the way up each 6-inch pan and use any leftover batter to make a couple cupcakes. Make sure to start checking for doneness about 15 minutes earlier, since the pans are smaller. It may not be done that early, but that’s when you want to start keeping an eye on it.
If you have three, 6-inch pans, then just divide all the batter bewteen the three 6-inch pans. The layers will be a bit thinner than usual, so you will want to start checking for doneness about 15-20 minutes earlier, just in case.
This cake can be served either chilled or at room temperature. Butter cakes firm up a bit when chilled though, so for a softer cake, pull it out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes before serving.
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Larry Stewart
Excellent with just right amount of cherry flavor. Toasted almond slivers and sprinkled over the icing but cake didn’t really need it. Also second day almonds lost some of their crunch. Added 3 tsp of cherry juice to icing and enjoyed the extra cherry flavor. The ingredient list for the icing doesn’t specify salt although the instructions have salt being added. Left the salt out and didn’t miss it.
Kara
Thanks for the great review Larry! So glad you loved the cake! Oh and thanks for letting me know about the salt missing in the ingredients list. I usually add a pinch of salt to icing and probably forgot to add it in the ingredients this time, but it’s good to know it still turned out great. Thanks again!