It’s not often that you see Betty Crocker’s Cherry Chip Cake mix at grocery stores these days, but it’s one of those flavors that evokes nostalgia for so many people. While I did not grow up eating Cherry Chip, so many of you asked for this flavor that I felt intrigued to give it a go. After all, how could you go wrong with a pink, maraschino cherry-flecked cake? Turns out you can’t go wrong. This cake is super fun to make, pretty to look at, and extremely delicious paired with this Cherry-Almond Buttercream.
There is something truly special about the flavor of this Cherry Chip Cake. I have no idea when it was invented, but the maraschino cherries throughout give it an undeniable retro vibe. It has the perfect cherry flavor after infusing the batter with maraschino cherry juice and folding in finely chopped cherries at the end. The whole process gives the cake layers a natural pink color, making the dots of cherry look extra fun!
The Cherry-Almond Buttercream is the ideal complement to this Cherry Chip Cake. The hint of almond helps bring out the cherry flavor and turn the whole palette into something sophisticated and lovely. The buttercream should already be the perfect consistency for filling, frosting, and piping the cake, but you can certainly thicken the buttercream for the piped portions if need be. Simply add a little more powdered sugar to the buttercream you’ll be using for piping, a few Tablespoons at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
Vintage Cake Decorating Details & Tips
To keep with the vintage aesthetic, I decided to pair this Cherry Chip Cake with classic lambeth piping. If you’ve never tried this vintage piping style before, fear not – it’s easier than it looks! I used two piping tips for this look (Wilton Tip 4B and 104) but you can feel free to get creative with whatever piping tips you’d like. After all, the lambeth style is all about over-piping, or creating rows of intricately piped details. Here are a couple tips to keep everything symmetrical as you add piping:
Start with a Chilled Cake – To create the perfect canvas for piping, you’ll want to chill the cake for at least 30 minutes after frosting it smooth with the Cherry-Almond Buttercream.
Make a Template – A template really comes in handy if you plan on creating symmetrical piping on the sides of your cake (like the ruffle garlands pictured in this Cherry Chip Cake design). To make my own template for this lambeth cake, I cut out a parchment paper circle to the same diameter as my cake layer. When you have your parchment circle cut out, fold it in half three times to make 8 equal-sized sections.
Place the template on top of the chilled cake (a) and mark each crease with a toothpick (b). Find a round glass or cookie cutter that’s the same diameter as the sections in your template and place a piece of scotch tape across the middle to create a half circle (c). This will help you line it up with the top of your cake as you press it into the sides (d) to indicate where each garland will go.
Thicken the Buttercream for Piping (if needed) – when you’re ready to pipe, place all of the buttercream you’ll be using for piping back into your stand mixer and add a little more powdered sugar (a few Tablespoons should do the trick) to thicken the consistency. This will help the buttercream hold its shape as you pipe those details. I piped shell borders around the bottom and top edges of the cakes with Wilton Tip 4B, piped the ruffle garlands with Wilton Tip 104, and piped simple flat swirls on the inside of the shell border on top of the cake using Wilton Tip 4B.
To finish the look, I pressed maraschino cherries where each ruffle garland met. It’s important to dry the cherries thoroughly before pressing them into the frosting, just so they don’t leak juice all over your beautiful piping. Mine still looked picture perfect and didn’t leak one bit even after a few days in the refrigerator!
However you decide to decorate, if you’re a fan of Cherry Chip, I hope you absolutely love this cake. Grab yourself a jar of maraschino cherries next time you’re at the grocery store and get ready to have a good time! It’s such a joyful cake that is sure to bring happiness wherever you take it.
UPDATE 2024: I added a little more vegetable oil and changed the order of this recipe slightly to make the crumb more soft and moist than ever!
Cherry Chip Cake
Ingredients
Cherry Chip Cake
- 3/4 Cup maraschino cherries (about 32 cherries)*, finely chopped
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) maraschino cherry juice
- 3/4 Cup (180ml) buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
- 2 1/2 Cups (265g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 Cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated white sugar
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp flour for coating the chopped cherries
Cherry-Almond Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 Cup (60ml) maraschino cherry juice
- 3 Tbsp (45ml) heavy whipping cream, room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Instructions
Make the Cherry Chip Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/177ºC. Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan.
- Finely chop the maraschino cherries and place them into a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. This will help drain some of the excess juices while you continue on in the recipe.
- In a liquid measuring cup or jar, mix together the buttermilk and maraschino cherry juice. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cream it together with the butter at medium-high speed for another 2 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the egg whites one at a time, mixing until they are just combined and scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla, increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 1 minute.
- Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture all at once. Mix the ingredients on low speed until just combined, then slowly pour in the buttermilk-cherry juice mixture. Continue mixing at low speed for about 30 seconds, until the batter is uniform and combined.
- Add 2 teaspoons of flour onto the chopped maraschino cherries and toss them to coat. Gently fold them into the batter using a rubber spatula. Then, divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. They’re done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs on it. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pans and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack
Make the Cherry-Almond Buttercream
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light, about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add the maraschino cherry juice, heavy whipping cream, almond extract, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated.
Assembly
- Once the Cherry Chip Cakes are cooled completely, level them to your desired height before filling and stacking with the Cherry-Almond Buttercream. Crumb coat the cake with Cherry-Almond Buttercream, refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes to let the frosting firm up, then frost the cake smooth with more Cherry-Almond Buttercream.
- To create the vintage piping (lambeth) style pictured, refrigerate the smooth frosted cake for another 30 minutes while you prepare the remaining buttercream for piping and create a template as described in the blog post above. Thicken the Cherry-Almond Buttercream by mixing in a few Tablespoons of powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached. Prepare two piping bags by fitting one with Wilton Tip 104 and one with Wilton Tip 4B. Add 2/3 of the remaining buttercream into the bag fitted with Tip 4B and the rest into the bag fitted with Tip 104.
- Use the template and a round cookie cutter or glass to create markings on your cake to guide your piping. Pipe a shell border with Wilton Tip 4B around the bottom of the cake, then pipe the same shell border along the top edge of the cake. Pipe swirls with Wilton Tip 4B inside the shell border on the top of the cake. Pipe a ruffle garland with Wilton Tip 104 onto each semi circle indent you created with the round cookie cutter or glass, then pipe a second layer of ruffles directly above each ruffle garland. Finish the look by pressing maraschino cherries (be sure to thoroughly dry them first) into the buttercream where each ruffle garland meets.
Notes
Did you make this Cherry Chip Cake? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below or feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram. I’d love to see how you decorated!
Do you have the nutrition information for this cake?
Hi Nicole! I don’t have the nutrition info, sorry!
Thoughts on making the cake without the chopped cherries (just the juice)? Or maybe I could blend them? My husband wants the flavour but no cherry bits lol!
Hi Malorie! I’m sure it would work to just add the juice without the cherries, it might not have as much cherry flavor without the little bits though. Blending them should work but but since I’ve never tried it myself it would be an experiment! Let me know if you try either of those alternative methods!
As NY cottage baker, I can’t use maraschino cherries from the jar. Do you think freeze dried cherries would be as good in this recipe? I really want the taste the maraschino gives it
Hi Joyce! I haven’t tried this recipe with any substitutes for the cherries, but from what I’ve read online it sounds like people usually substitute the maraschino cherries for fresh cherries or dried cherries. It will be an experiment, but it seems like people have had success with those substitutes!
Hello,
I want to say thank you. I made cupcakes for a coworker today and the entire office was in awe of how delicious your recipe is!!
I did add a chocolate chip drizzle to a few of them.
Have a beautiful day!!
Yay, Brandalynn! I’m so happy this recipe was such a hit!
Hi Whitney, I need to dye the icing blue. Would I just substitute more heavy cream or milk instead of the cherry juice? Thank You!
Hi Maria! Yes, just make sure the milk/heavy cream is room temperature before adding it in. Heavy cream will be the best substitute for a silky smooth consistency, but either will work. Enjoy!
Can I use egg whites from a carton, if so ho much do I measure ? Thank you
Hi Laura! You can use egg whites from a carton. Use about 4 Tbsp (120g).
I made this delicious cake last week and added some cherry chips that I ordered online to the batter. The outside edges turned out hard even though I didn’t overtake it. I trimmed off all the edges of the cake and frosted it. The cake was absolutely scrumptious and very moist. I wonder if the cherry chips I added caused the outside to be hard? This cake is a keeper and definitely one of our favorites – Thank you for sharing ❤️
Hi Kim! I’m so happy you loved this cake! I haven’t tried it with the cherry chips you can get online (which look like chocolate chips but cherry flavored) so I’m not sure if those affected the bake in that way. The cherry chips in this recipe are just the flecks of maraschino cherry bits. I’m glad you were able to trim the edges to get the perfect layers!
Hi is this stable enough for a 2 tiered cake?
Yes, it is!