This cherry vanilla cake bakes up light and fluffy, and so. very. spongy! Specially designed to make sure the cherries in the cake batter never sink, you'll find bursts of cherry in every bite!
Cherries and chocolate are obviously an iconic pairing (most famously featured together in black forest cake). But cherries and vanilla cake are just as delicious!
I just about lost it when I saw that cherries finally made it back onto our shelves. And suuuureeee, maybe they weren't at their peak seasonality, but I was going to make a cherry cake one way or another!
tell me about this cake
I used a modified version of my favorite white cake recipe for the base cake batter - but with a few tweaks.
The most obvious difference is that while my white cake just uses egg whites, this batter features whole eggs for some added richness from the yolks.
Since the egg yolks would weigh the cake down more, I reduced the amount of flour and sour cream to keep everything light and airy.
I also halved the amount of baking soda to keep the cake from overrising / overflowing because this is baked in a smaller cake pan than my white cake.
best cherries for cherry cake
Avoid frozen or canned cherries (they can be a bit too moist for this already moist cake and lead to a watery finished product). The best cherries for this cake (and any cherry cake really) are fresh, sweet cherries.
It's a bit of added work to pit them, but it's so worth it in terms of getting the best flavor, freshness, and consistency!
vanilla cherry cake ingredients
• flour
• baking powder + soda
• salt
• butter: for the cake and frosting.
• vegetable oil: or any other neutral flavored oil. My favorite alternatives are corn, peanut, or sunflower oil
• sugar: granulated for the cake and powdered sugar for the frosting
• eggs
• vanilla extract: vanilla is a pretty huge part in this cake, so I really, really, REALLY recommend using pure high quality vanilla for the cake and frosting. I used vanilla bean paste for some cute speckles, but plain vanilla is just as great!
• sour cream
• milk: buttermilk for the cake and regular milk to thin out the frosting! If you don't have any, here's how to make your own buttermilk at home!
• cherries
• cherry jam: optional, to create a cute swirl in the frosting
how to make vanilla cherry cake
Make the cherry cake
1. Whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. Cream together butter, oil, and sugar until light and smooth.
3. Whisk eggs in one at a time. Add vanilla in with the last egg, and mix to combine.
4. Alternate whisking in wet and dry ingredients. Start by whisking in ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by all of the sour cream, another ⅓ of the dry ingredients, all the buttermilk, and end off with the final third of the dry ingredients.
5. Fold in chopped cherries.
6. Portion into baking pans & bake!
7. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in the pans, then on a wire rack until cooled completely before frosting.
Make the frosting:
8. Cream butter until smooth.
9. Add in remaining frosting ingredients, and beat together until light and fluffy. Start on low speed to prevent a puff of powdered sugar, then increase the speed and whip until fluffy! If needed, mix in more milk to get the right consistency.
10. Assembly: layer the first cake, then frosting, chopped cherries, and top with the second cake layer. Frost the outside of the cake and spread some cherry jam along the sides to cream a swirl!
11. Chill to set the cake enough to slice cleanly (about 1 hour). Enjoy!
how do you keep cherries from sinking in cherry cake?
This was at the top of my mind when I crafted this recipe. Sooo the cake batter is specially designed to be the perfect thickness to hold the cherries in place with little to no sinking.
You don't need to do anything special to keep the cherries in place. You can even see in the photos above how the cherries are sitting nice and snug in place!
what icing for cherry cake?
You have a whoooole lot of frosting recipes you can choose from that pair well with this cherry cake!
A few of my favorites are cream cheese frosting (but I'd recommend chilling it in the fridge for a bit before frosting so that it's firm enough to stack cakes with!), vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, or ermine frosting (for something a little less sweet)!
The recipe below features vanilla buttercream with a cherry jam swirl!
how to serve cherry cake
This cake is best served cool but not straight from the fridge. A slightly cool cake is easier to cut into clean slices, but I recommend letting it sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving so the fat in the cake and frosting soften to the perfect texture!
storage
Keep this cherry cake stored in the fridge covered with plastic wrap or a cake server lid. If the cake isn't sliced, you can get away with not covering it as the frosting will act as a layer of protection!
This cake will keep for up to 1 week in the fridge, but it's best served as soon as possible so the cherries stay fresh.
can cherry cake be frozen?
You can freeze the plain cake layers if you'd like. I never like freezing frosted cakes because I find frosting doesn't thaw very nicely!
To freeze, wrap each cake with a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw on your countertop for a few hours or in the fridge overnight before assembling.
Check out these other recipes!
• Black Forest Cake
• How to Make Cherry Pie Filling at Home
• Strawberry Sheet Cake
• Chocolate Blackberry Cake with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.
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Vanilla Cherry Cake Recipe
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 people (approx.)
Description
This cherry vanilla cake bakes up light and fluffy, and so. very. spongy! Specially designed to make sure the cherries in the cake batter never sink, you'll find bursts of cherry in every bite!
Ingredients
For the cherry cake
- 2 & ¾ cups (330g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons (145g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (80mL) vegetable oil
- 1 & ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) full fat sour cream, room temperature
- 1 cup (240mL) buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 & ½ cups fresh pitted and chopped cherries, about 300g weighed after pitting
For the cherry swirl frosting
- 1 & ½ cups (340g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 cups (780g) powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 to 8 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60g) cherry jam
- 1 cup fresh pitted and chopped cherries, about 200g weighed after pitting (optional - for filling between the cake layers)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease 2 (8 inch) round cake pans with sides that are at least 2 inches high, and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Lightly dust the sides with flour and tap out any excess. Set aside.
- Make the cherry cake: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, oil, and sugar. Using an electric mixer fitted with the beater attachment, cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 to 3 minutes). You can also do this by hand with a whisk, but it will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Whisk eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in your vanilla extract to combine.
- Alternate whisking in the dry ingredients and sour cream and buttermilk. Start by mixing in about ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture, followed by the sour cream, another ⅓ of the dry ingredients, buttermilk, and the remaining dry ingredients. Take care not to overmix.
- Fold the chopped cherries into your batter. Divide the batter evenly between your prepared cake pans.
- Bake in the center of your preheated 325°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean of any batter (a few moist crumbs are fine).
- Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in the cake pans, then invert onto a wire rack and set aside to cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
- Make the cherry swirl frosting: Place butter in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer fitted with the beater or whip attachment, cream butter until smooth and lump free (about 2 minutes on medium speed).
- Add powdered sugar, salt, 5 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla extract. Mix together on low speed to combine. Raise the mixer speed to medium and whip for 2 to 3 minutes, or until light, fluffy, and smooth. If the frosting is too thick, whip in more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the right consistency.
- Assembly: Lay one of the cooled cakes on your cake stand or serving plate and top with a generous layer of frosting followed by fresh chopped cherries (if using). Top with the second cake layer and frost the outside with the remaining frosting. Spread some cherry jam along the sides of the cake to create a swirl.
- Chill the cake for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving! This cake is best served slightly cool but not straight from the fridge.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Bake Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Cakes
Enjoy!
Courtney says
Can you use frozen cherries?
Victor Chartrand says
We haven't gotten the first harvest, and I would probably wait to the second before I make this cake. I still have morello cherries in refrigerator, can I substitute? TY
Alicia Schmidt says
I believe there is a discrepancy in the butter measurement. 10 tablespoons of butter only weighs about 140 grams.. but you have listed to use 10 tbsp of butter, equaling to 255 grams.
Mimi says
Hi Alicia! Ohh that was a mistake - thank you so much for pointing it out!! I've gone in and fixed it ❤️
John says
I made this for a birthday, and it was phenomenal! The cake was light and moist, a really nice texture. I wanted a less sweet icing, so I used the ermine icing instead, and it was delicious! Thanks for a wonderful recipe
Unique places in the World says
This cherry vanilla cake sounds heavenly! I love how light and fluffy it is, and the fact that it's designed to keep the cherries from sinking is such a great touch. Bursting with cherry flavor in every bite, it sounds like the perfect way to celebrate summer. I can't wait to bake this and enjoy all those juicy cherry bites! Thank you for sharing such an irresistible recipe!
Colleen Medford says
This cake sounds delicious and I cannot wait to try it. Do you think I could make this a full cherry cake (instead of vanilla cherry cake) by blending the cherries and fully mixing into the batter?