Recipe: Maraschino Cherry Cake

Just after Easter I blogged about an amazing coconut cake I made. Well, while I was making that one, [K] was crafting a recipe all her own.

(Don't mind the check marks. She was adding those as we made the cake.)

I thought she did a really great job coming up with the list of ingredients all on her own and I won't lie, I thought it sounded like a really delicious cake. So I searched the internet for a cake recipe that would most closely follow her original recipe and this is the one we came up with, Maraschino Cherry Cake. The only major difference between this one and the cake we made is that [K] requested chocolate frosting and then decided she didn't like it and had me cut her pieces out before I frosted the cake which is why half of the cake below is missing. (I cut out hers and [E]s before frosting it so no, she didn't get half the cake to herself.)

Maraschino Cherry Cake
(Serves 10; 404 calories per slice - ouch but yummy anyway)

Ingredients

• 10 oz jar of maraschino cherries, drained but reserve the juice
• White cake mix (or a homemade white cake)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip Light, defrosted
• *Optional* 3.4 oz pkg. Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding Mix
• *Optional* 1/4 cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep 2 round cake pans. (I learned from my Mom after making the Coconut Cake that a great way to get your cakes out of the pan cleanly is to trace the bottom of the pans on sheets of parchment paper, cut them out, spray the inside bottom of your pan with non-stick spray, press the parchment paper down on the bottom, then spray the parchment paper. When the cakes have cooled about 10 minutes, use a knife to go around the edges and invert your cake onto the cooling rack. The cake will slide right out of the pan and the paper will peel off easily. It works great!)
2. Cut the cherries into small pieces. I think I cut each cherry into about 8 pieces.
3. Put the cake mix in a mixer bowl. Add enough water to the cherry juice to bring the liquid to 1 cup.  Pour that into the cake mix. Add the cherry pieces, vanilla, and eggs to the bowl and mix until well combined.  Pour into the prepared cake pans.
4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when you test the center.
5. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove to cooling racks. (See my note in step 1.)
6. After completely cool, frost with your choice of frosting or Cool Whip. To make Chocolate Cool Whip, add the package of dry Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix and 1/4 cup milk to the Cool Whip and stir until combined.

When finished, show it to your daughter and laugh at the fake surprised expression on her face :)

She actually helped me make most of this cake although her main form of "helping" was testing the maraschino cherries to make sure they were tasty enough for her cake. I love that she is interested in creating recipes and enjoys making things. I hope this is something she and I can continue to do for many years to come.