We had another birthday celebration last week – for my daughter whose birthday was in January. Between all the busy weekend activities, it took us awhile to pull off the party with friends, but she always keeps it easy on me and wants to celebrate at a local fun place. The kids are getting good as googling for ideas on the iPad and she found the cake she wanted me to make. I aim to please and this girl of mine wanted it to look exactly the same, which is my way of saying I contributed no creativity to this cake design whatsoever. It looked straight out of the bakery and I’m so grateful to our inspiration making my job a cinch – head over to Life, Love, and Sugar for her from-scratch cherry chocolate chip cake recipe and drool-worthy photos.
I did not make the cake from scratch. I used Betty Crocker cherry chip cake mix – two boxes for a total of four 9-inch round layers. I stacked each layer with thick chocolate ganache between, which was absolutely delicious. And I frosted the whole thing with cherry buttercream frosting, which was also heavenly. The whole combination was a winner. So good, in fact, that the cake was gone by the time we got home from the party and I didn’t even get a picture of the inside.
This Cherry Buttercream icing was so yummy – buttery and not too sweet – it complimented the cherry cake, but can also stand up next to chocolate, like these cupcakes. A simple swirl of frosting with cake decorating tip 1M and maraschino cherries make the cake or cupcakes so perfectly festive without a lot of effort. (Cherry stems would have been perfection, but all of the options at my store had the stems removed. bummer. Shop around if you have time and want stems!) One more tip on the cherries: be sure to remove them from the jar and lay them out on a few layers of paper towel to soak up the excess juice – give the cherries a little squeeze to make sure they’re not going to drip down the sides of your perfect frosting swirls! I’m excited to share this frosting recipe today – please note that if you’re going to make a quadruple stacked 9-inch cake, you will probably need 2 batches of frosting. This allowed me to crumb coat the cake and then frost it and have plenty to decorate around the top. I also had enough leftover from the double batch to frost about a dozen cupcakes.
Ingredients:
- 2- 7 oz. tubs Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) salted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons cherry extract
- 5-6 drops ‘Soft Pink’ gel paste food coloring (or to desired color)
Instructions:
- With whisk attachment on standing mixer, beat marshmallow creme until smooth.
- Add butter, one tablespoon at a time, whisking on low speed until all the butter is incorporated.
- Add powdered sugar, almond extract, and cherry extract. Whisk until blended and fluffy.
- Switch to the paddle attachment. Add food coloring, a few drops at a time, and beat frosting until smooth and fluffy and the desired color is achieved.
- Use frosting immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to use. If stored in refrigerator, re-beat until smooth and spreadable before using.
- Cake can be frosted and stored in the refrigerator a day in advance.
Cherry Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 7 oz. tubs Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
- 1 ½ cups salted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons cherry extract
- 5-6 drops ‘Soft Pink’ gel paste food coloring or to desired color
Instructions
- With whisk attachment on standing mixer, beat marshmallow creme until smooth.
- Add butter, one tablespoon at a time, whisking on low speed until all the butter is incorporated.
- Add powdered sugar, almond extract, and cherry extract. Whisk until blended and fluffy.
- Switch to the paddle attachment. Add food coloring, a few drops at a time, and beat frosting until smooth and fluffy and the desired color is achieved.
- Use frosting immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to use. If stored in refrigerator, re-beat until smooth and spreadable before using.
- Cake can be frosted and stored in the refrigerator a day in advance.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Jessie R says
I used this for a birthday cake I made. I beat the marshmallow as in the instructions but when I added to softened butter to the marshmallow it did not get fluffy. I added the sugar and it still remained kinda runny. I had to add some more sugar and place it in the refrigerator for a while. It also got really soft once it got to room temperature (72-73 degrees). It was very tasty though. I’ll have to try to make it again and see if I can figure out why.
girlinspired says
My best guess would be that the butter was too soft when added. I set it out for 15 minutes or so. Just enough that you can indent it if you lightly press your finger on it, but not soft soft where your finger just sinks into it real easily.
Amanda says
Can I use maraschino cherry juice instead of cherry extract in a pinch?
girlinspired says
I’d sure try it! Probably won’t have AS MUCH flavor, but still might give it some. Don’t add too much or your frosting might be runny though.
CakeSpy says
This looks off the hook delicious, and it’s pretty as a picture!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Perfect frosting! And i love it’s baby pink hued colour. Xx
Lynn says
This is just beautiful….your work is flawless! I can’t wait to make this!
Samantha White says
Wow! That’s gorgeous!