Cherry Cake {A Scratch Recipe}
Oh how we LOVE this amazing Cherry Cake recipe from scratch! We are so happy to have another tried & true homemade recipe for our collection of favorite cakes.
I love light, fruit flavored cakes any time of the year, but especially in the spring and summer. This versatile and flavorful recipe deserves a place in your recipe box!
It seems that Cherry Cake is an often overlooked cake superstar when it comes to cakes with fruit.
Often Strawberry Cakes or Lemon Cakes are the first to spring to our minds when planning our dessert menus for summertime gatherings.
While we've included SO many favorite fruity cakes in our Recipes Section, don't overlook this amazing homemade Cherry Cake! It just might become a new favorite.
Table of Contents
Why We Love It
- The cherry cake layers have a moist, tender crumb.
- Light cherry flavor (from cherries, maraschino cherry juice, and a splash of cherry extract)
- Beautiful slices with bits of maraschino cherries
- Perfect for spring and summer birthdays
How to make a Cherry Cake
You can find the full, printable cherry cake recipe below, with complete instructions and ingredients. Here is a quick look at our steps!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, grease and flour three 8 inch round pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt for at least 30 seconds
- In another bowl, add the egg whites, cherry juice, milk, vanilla and cherry extract, and vegetable oil. Blend together with a fork
- In the bowl of your mixer add the softened butter and mix at medium speed to soften. Next, add the sugar and continue to mix for a few minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
- With the mixer on low speed, we will now alternate between adding dry and wet ingredients. Add approximately one third of the flour mixture to the bowl, mixing on low speed until just blended. Add about half of the wet ingredients and blend, and so on. Continue alternating the dry and wet ingredients (ending with dry). We do three additions of dry, two of wet. Mix just until blended.
- Reserve approximately 2 Tablespoons chopped cherries. Gently stir the remaining chopped cherries into the batter.
- Once the batter is divided between the three prepared cake pans, sprinkle the reserved cherries over the top of the batter, using a toothpick push them just slightly below the surface of the cake batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, when the cake springs back to the touch or a toothpick pulls out clean or with only a few crumbs attached, the cake is done.
- Cool the cake layers in the pans, one a wire rack, for ten minutes before turning out.
- This cherry cake recipes makes 7 ½ cups cake batter.
Versatility of this Cherry Cake Recipe
This moist scratch Cherry Cake recipe is tender, flavorful, and is the prettiest shade of pink. While soft, the cake layers are sturdy enough to be covered in a layer of fondant. The cherry cake batter makes for beautiful homemade cupcakes also.
Frost or drizzle this delightful Cherry Cake with decadent chocolate ganache for a "Chocolate Covered Cherry" cake, coat it with luxurious Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting, or add a bit of cherry extract to your favorite vanilla buttercream!
More Cherry Cakes
If you love cherry cakes, don't miss these other delicious recipes! We have tons of fruity cake recipes to share with you. You'll find cakes from scratch as well as cake mix recipes on our site. Here are a few cherry cake favorites:
- Cherry Chocolate Chip Cake (pictured below)
- Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
- Cherry Layer Cake- Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
- Black Forest Cake
- Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting
Summer Cakes
If you're looking for more fruity Summertime Cake Recipes, don't miss our Roundup of favorites! Summertime Cake Roundup
Thanks for stopping by! If you try our Cherry Cake recipe, make sure to let us know what you think in the comments below! We think you're going to love this one!
Enjoy the Recipe
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Cherry Cake from Scratch
This moist and flavorful Cherry Cake from Scratch is one of our favorites! Keep it in mind for spring and summer gatherings!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour plus 2 Tablespoons for dusting cherries
- 1Tablespoon (15g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 6 egg whites (180g)
- â…” cup (146g) cherry juice from a 10 ounce bottle of maraschino cherries, if there is not enough juice to reach â…”'s cup add water or milk
- ¾ cup (172g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (4g) cherry extract
- ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened but still cold to the touch
- maraschino cherries from a 10 ounce jar (use all) chopped and dusted with 2 Tablespoons flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (8 inch) round pans
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt for at least 30 seconds
- In another bowl, add the egg whites, cherry juice, milk, vanilla and cherry extract, and vegetable oil. Blend together with a fork.
- In the bowl of your mixer add the butter and beat at medium speed to soften. Add the sugar and continue to beat until lightened in color and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes, longer if using a hand mixer.
- With the mixer on low speed, we will now alternate between adding dry and wet ingredients. Add approximately one third of the flour mixture to the bowl, mixing on low speed until just blended. Add about half of the wet ingredients and blend, and so on. Continue alternating the dry and wet ingredients (ending with dry). We do three additions of dry, two of wet. Mix just until blended.
- Reserve approximately 2 Tablespoons chopped cherries. Gently stir the remaining chopped cherries into the batter. Divide the batter between the three prepared 8 inch cake pans.
- Once the batter is in the cake pans, sprinkle the reserved cherries over the top of the batter, and using a toothpick push them just slightly below the surface of the cake batter. Even though the flour is supposed to keep the cherries from sinking to the bottom of the pan, I find that most will, so this is my reason for adding a few to the top.
- Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, when the cake springs back to the touch or a toothpick pulls out clean or with only a few crumbs attached, the cake is done. Allow to cool in the pans on a wire rack for ten minutes before turning out.
- Makes 7 ½ cups cake batter
- Works well for cupcakes and Will hold up to fondant
Notes
The cherry cake layers can be made in advance and frozen. To freeeze the cake layers, we like to place each layer individually on its own foil wrapped cardboard cake circle. Wrap with plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Freeze for up to three months.
Thaw on the kitchen counter, still wrapped for 30-45 minutes before unwrapping and thawing to desired amount. Some bakers prefer to assemble their cakes while the layers are still partially frozen as they are less fragile.
Have you ever made this with Amarena cherries as opposed to maraschino?
I'm sorry Andi, I have never used Amarena cherries.
Hello. No need for egg yolks for this recipe? Thank you ?
Hi Anna, There are no egg yolks in the recipe, only whites.
Can you make this recipe for cookies instead of a cake?
Hi Connie, This recipe would not work well for cookies. You could
bake it in a 9x12 sheet cake pan for cake squares.
Hello! If I dont want the cherry flavor, can I just add lemon zest, and water in place of the cherry juice? Thanks
Hi Lea, Are you leaving out the cherries also? I haven't tried just using water and zest so I am not sure of the outcome. Do you want a lemon cake, we have several lemon cake recipes in the recipe section.
Hello, would I be able to make the cake with only the cherry juice and leave out the cherries? Do I need to adjust the ingredients for this?
Thank you!!
Hi Carolina, I think it should be fine to leave out the chopped cherries without any other adjustments. They add color and more flavor if you happen to get some in your slice of cake. However, your cake will have a nice cherry flavor without them.
Can you use pasteurized egg whites for this cherry cake recipe. Thank you
Thank you so much! I shall make the cake for my birthday in a couple of weeks!!