Sometimes I make really pretty layered cakes like this gorgeous red velvet cake with sugared cranberries. Or even these darling hot chocolate cupcakes. But most of the time my cakes are more like this pumpkin crunch cake, and this Snickers poke cake, where you get to basically dump the ingredients and they’ll magically look and taste great! This easy cherry cake is an example of the latter – mostly just dumping things on top of each other and magically creating something amazing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy as pie – I mentioned it above, but this cake is so simple to make! Just mix a few ingredients, put them together, and bake!Pie and cake together – this tastes like what you would get if cherry pie and the best vanilla cake had a baby. It’s delish! Great for all year round – just like with these cherry cheesecake cookies, cherry is one of those flavors that works all year round! Top this with fresh cherries in the summer or sugared cherries (from frozen) in the winter.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Cherry pie filling – this recipe uses a 21 ounce can of cherry pie filling. If you have extras, add it to this flaky pie crust to make homemade cherry pie! Almond extract – don’t skip this even if you’re using the vanilla. The almond extract really gives the cake an amazing flavor! Yogurt – I prefer to use plain yogurt but plain, cherry, and vanilla all work. Just know that both cherry and vanilla typically have added sugars, so they make the cake a little sweeter than the plain yogurt.
How to make cherry cake
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and spraying a 9″x13″ baking pan with cooking spray. Now you’ll cream together the sugar, butter, yogurt, vanilla, and eggs until light and fluffy. Add the flour and baking powder to the creamed ingredients and mix until all the ingredients are combined together. Take 2/3 of the batter and spread it into the baking pan, making sure to cover the entire bottom of the pan, all the way to the corners. Pour the cherry pie filling on top of the batter and spread around to cover the entire layer of batter. It works best to spread this with either a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon. Dot the top of the pie filling with the remaining batter. It won’t need to be completely covered, just dot it around evenly. The batter will bake together to create your top layer. Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. While the cake is baking, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk until smooth. While the cake is still warm, drizzle the glaze over the top of it. The glaze will spread all over the cake, which is totally fine! That way each piece of the cake has a nice amount of glaze to go with the slightly tart cherry flavor. Allow the cake to cool completely after glazed. Cut into squares once cooled. Serve topped with fresh cherries if available.
Expert Tips
Use a knife to swirl the top batter around a bit so you don’t end up with huge clumps of the top layer rather than cake throughout. Spread the cherry pie filling around into as even of a layer as possible so you get that good layer of cherry in each piece. Store cake in the refrigerator for up to a week in an airtight container or just in the baking dish with a lid. Cut the cake into smallish pieces. It’s a fairly rich (and moist!) cake so I’d start with small pieces and let people get seconds if they want more. Serve with pitted fresh cherries during the summer when cherries are good. Serve with chocolate covered cherries on top during the winter for a fun holiday treat!
More Fruity desserts
If you like desserts with fruit, you’re going to love these amazing options!
Cranberry orange muffins – moist, sweet, and topped with a delicious orange glaze! Sugared cranberries – a simple sweet snack that goes well with pretty much any holiday dessert! Homemade apple pie – a decadent and delicious all-American classic! Easy peach cake – homemade vanilla cake topped with an amazing cream cheese layer and fresh peaches, this recipe is to die for! Banana pudding cupcakes – cupcakes filled with banana pudding and topped with a whipped cream frosting and fresh bananas!
