Maraschino Cherry Cake

This maraschino cherry cake that's all made from scratch is a delicious moist dessert cake and we often bake this in a heart-shaped pan on Valentine's Day for that special someone.

The recipe is from the 1940s that mom made and since then I have made this in her memory since 1999 when she passed away.

The cake is a white light cake made with just egg whites, cake flour (which I have included DIY recipe for cake flour below) eggs, cherry juice, and maraschino jarred cherries.

Mom's homemade from scratch recipe for this Maraschino Cherry Cake recipe is not only easy to make but it is absolutely as delcious as it looks.

Anyone you make this for will not only be impressed with this pretty cherry cake but also fall with the fanstic creamy cherry topped icing!

Mom would also added pecans to her recipe below, however, our family has excluded them due to the many food allergies, so I leave them out.

We have two frosting recipes below one is a vintage buttercream cherry frosting and the other is a 7 minutes style frosting the cake will make two 9-inch cakes, we usually make two and freeze one for another time.

For the complete recipe scroll all the way down to the bottom where you will find a printable recipe card on this page and hit print.

Step-by-Step Maraschino Cherry Heart Cake

1. Prepare by greasing and flouring the pan of choice
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
3. Add the cake batter ingredients and use an electric mixer to combine
4. Fold in the cherries
5. Pour into the prepared pan
6. Baking time will vary by the pans used see below recipe card for instructions

Shopping List (complete recipe in the printable card at the bottom of this post)

• Cake Batter:
• sifted cake flour (see homemade cake flour photo in the post) 
• sugar
• baking powder
• salt
• vegetable shortening
• whole milk ( I prefer to use evaporated or buttermilk)
• maraschino cherry juice
• vanilla
• almond extract
• egg whites
• chopped maraschino cherries around 15 to 18 blotted dry with paper towels
• Optional:1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• check out our Amazon Store Front Page ("paid affiliate link" see privacy policy disclaimer)

Tips and Suggestions:

• always flour and grease the pan you're using for the best results
• do not overbeat this batter
• for an extra moist cake, drizzle the layers after baking with maraschino cherry juice or sugar water boiled together for a simple syrup
• fold in the fruit last (make sure it's blotted dry)
• add any kind of nuts
• the cake tastes great with just whipped cream
• instead of frosting dust with powdered sugar
• make muffins instead of a cake
• make two cakes and freeze one for later up to 6 months wrapped
• try and different fruit
• tint with food coloring if desired for deeper color
• decorate frosted cakes with some fruit
• no heart pan no problem!  First bake two cakes,  one round, and one square. Then cut the round baked cake in half. Then turning the square cake so it looks like a diamond shape with the point at the top. Place the two cut halves on each side of the point.

Pans to Use:

• Sheet cake: 13 x 9 around 30 minutes
• Bundt pan: 9 -inch around 55 to 60 minutes
• Round pans: 9-inch around 25 to 20 minutes 
• Note: use the toothpick method (place in the cake when it comes out clean the cake is cooked)

Fruit substitutions:

1. red raspberries
2. chopped strawberries
3. blackberries
4. peaches chopped fresh or canned drained

Don't Forget to Pin Me!!

Take the Easy Way Out?

If you don't want to bake the cake from scratch use a white cake to the directions add the cherries to the batter before baking and substitute the juice for part of the water

Again you can easily bake a round cake and a square cake then make a heart-shaped cake from those two pans.

This maraschino cherry cake is a vintage recipe from my mom's collection and is super delicious and moist, we hope you try it!

Maraschino Cherry Cake

Yield: 24

Author: Claudia Lamascolo

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min

Maraschino cherry cake made from scratch with frosting on Valentine's Day

Ingredients

• 2 - 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (see homemade cake flour photo in the post)
• 1 - 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 - 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (like Crisco in a can)
• 3/4 cup whole milk ( I prefer to use evaporated or buttermilk)
• 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 4 egg whites (unbeaten)
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries around 15 to 18 blotted dry with paper towels
• Optional:1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• Butter Cream Frosting:
• 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 8 tablespoons of cherry juice to make a free-flowing frosting or use milk
• Optional: red food coloring for a deeper red around 1 or 2 drops
• 7-minute cooked frosting alternative:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• optional: 2 drops of red food coloring

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 2- 9 inch heart-shaped pans ( or choose another in the notes section.
2. In a large bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. and whisk together. Add the shortening to that bowl and set it aside.
3. In another bowl add the milk, cherry juice, and extracts.
4. Pour that into the bowl with shortening and flour mixture and using an electric mixer beat for 2 minutes all together until blended evenly.
5. Add the egg white then beat for 2 more minutes.
6. Fold in the cherries.
7. Pour into two 9-inch greased and floured heart-shaped pans ( or use round pans) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes ( use the toothpick method to check if it comes out clean..
8. Note: If you want to do a sheet cake it will take around 45 minutes.
9. Bundt pan for 55 to 60 minutes.
10. Butter Cream Frosting Instructions:
11. In a deep bowl add the butter with powdered sugar slowly beating together with the milk, and cherry juice until light and fluffy using a hand mixer. Stir in the extract or choice (vanilla or almond) at the end, and add more drops of milk if necessary to make a smooth easy-to-spread frosting.
12. 7-Minute Frosting Instructions:
13. Place the 1 cup sugar,1/4 teaspoon salt,1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar,2 egg whites, and 3 tablespoons water ingredients all in a heavy-duty stainless 3-quart sized pot, not the vanilla.
14. Turn the stove on to low heat and beat using an electric mix constantly for 7 minutes or until the frostings form fluffy and stiff peaks.
15. Remove from heat stir in the food coloring if using and vanilla.
16. Decorate with cherries.

Notes

Pans to Use:

• Sheet cake: 13 x 9 around 45 minutes
• Bundt pan: 9 -inch around 55 to 60 minutes
• Round pans: 9-inch around 25 to 20 minutes 
• Note: use the toothpick method (place in the cake when it comes out clean the cake is cooked)

Fruit substitutions:

1. red raspberries
2. chopped strawberries
3. blackberries
4. peaches chopped fresh or canned drained

Tips and Suggestions:

• always flour and grease the pan you're using for best results
• do not overbeat this batter
• for an extra moist cake, drizzle the layers after baking with maraschino cherry juice or sugar water boiled together for a simple syrup
• fold in the fruit last (make sure it's blotted dry)
• add any kind of nuts
• the cake tastes great with just whipped cream
• instead of frosting dust with powdered sugar
• make muffins instead of a cake
• make two cakes and freeze one for later up to 6 months wrapped
• try and different fruit
• tint with food coloring if desired for deeper color
• decorate frosted cakes with some fruit
• no heart pan no problem! First bake two cakes, one round, and one square. Then cut the round baked cake in half. Then turning the square cake so it looks like a diamond shape with the point at the top. Place the two cut halves on each side of the point.
• underbaked cakes sink so make sure it is cooked and you use the toothpick method
• very important to make sure the cherries are blotted dry
• if the cake is overbaked and dry no worries try a simple syrup: 1 cup (250 g) water 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar boil for two minutes cool and brush onto the cake

Nutrition Facts

Calories

302

Fat (grams)

8.35 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

2.58 g

Carbs (grams)

55.27 g

Fiber (grams)

0.77 g

Net carbs

54.51 g

Sugar (grams)

44.37 g

Protein (grams)

2.9 g

Sodium (milligrams)

338.9 mg

Cholesterol (grams)

5.94 mg

Similar Recipes

Elvis Presley Cake

Italian Cream Cake

Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake

Chocolate Chip Cake

Cream of Coconut Cake

Orange Pineapple Cake

https://www.whatscookinitalianstylecuisine.com/2013/02/valentines-day-desserts-and-more.html

These are all copyright-protected images and content. Do not reprint/reuse this recipe or its images without my written permission.

Valentine's maraschino cake, heart-shaped cake, cherry heart-shaped cake, cherry cake, Desserts, cherry frosting, Valentine's Day recipes

Valentine's Day cherry cake, cake recipes, filling recipes, frosting recipes, scratch cake recipes

American

Don't Forget to Pin Me!!

Recipes We Love

Coconut Cake
Italian Cream Cake
Elvis Presley Cake
Orange Pineapple Cake
Chocolate Chips Cake
Hummingbird Cake

Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2013. It was edited and re-published in 2023.