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This cake was inspired by a chocolate and maraschino cherry cake I made when I was a kid messing around in my mom’s kitchen with her recipe books, back when I first discovered my love for baking. I have no idea what ended up happening to that recipe book, or what it was even called. I only made the cake once, but absolutely loved the almost brownie-like texture and the unique flavor of the combination of chocolate and maraschino cherries. I’ve been dreaming of that cake ever since. And that was many years ago.
When the craving hit, I tried to find the recipe but with so many different variations out there, I couldn’t find the exact one. Thankfully, I never forget a good dessert. So I recreated it myself, using ingredients I thought would yield the textures and flavors closest to the cake I remember. And honestly, I absolutely nailed it.
Not everyone loves baking. I get that. But I promise this recipe is really hard to mess up, and comes together super quickly with minimal steps. It’s one of those “throw everything into a bowl and mix” desserts. The result is a soft, moist chocolate cake with tons of rich chocolate and cherry flavors. Once you top it with the easy Cherry Vanilla Glaze (which only takes about an extra minute to make), you get the perfect sweet exterior that makes this cake taste like a cross between a chocolate cake and a glazed doughnut.
Table of Contents
Quick Recipe Overview
Flavors: This cake combines the classic flavor of a rich chocolate cake with the sweet flavors of maraschino cherries. It’s super moist because it’s made with coconut oil and maraschino cherry juice, with the added texture of chopped cherries.
Tips for the best Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cake:
- Don’t overmix the batter. Baking recipes almost always tell you not to overmix your batter. This instruction is mostly for electric mixers, so with a simple cake like this where you’re likely just mixing by hand, it’s not really something you need to worry about unless you’re mixing for several minutes. Just stop mixing when you can no longer see flour, and you’re all good!
- Don’t skip the glaze! The Cherry Vanilla Glaze really brings the whole cake together, and it’s super simple to make. I highly recommend taking the extra minute to make it.
Difficulty: This recipe doesn’t require creaming butter or any other lengthy steps. The batter can even be mixed in one bowl if you don’t feel like doing extra dishes, so this is an easy recipe.
Time: The batter for this cake comes together in about 5 minutes, since it’s just throwing everything together, plus melting the coconut oil and chopping the cherries. The cake bakes for around 30 minutes, and you do need to let it cool for about an extra 15 minutes before you top it with the glaze. From start to finish, this recipe takes less than an hour.
Ingredients you’ll need for this recipe
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cake and the Cherry Vanilla Glaze:
For the Cake Batter:
- Flour: all purpose flour is great here, but you can use cake flour if you already have it on hand. Either is totally fine!
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: because this cake uses baking soda, try to avoid using Dutch processed cocoa powder if possible.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt: a little salt helps balance out all the sweet flavors in this cake.
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract: this adds a great flavor that pairs perfectly with the maraschino cherries, but you can skip it if you don’t already have it on hand.
- Maraschino cherry juice (the liquid from the jar).
- Coconut oil: this cake uses melted and cooled coconut oil to keep it perfectly moist. You can also use any other neutral oil like avocado, vegetable or canola, but I prefer to use coconut oil.
- Milk: whole milk is best, but any percentage is great here!
- Eggs: I always bake with large eggs, unless specifically mentioned.
- Maraschino cherries: chopped maraschino cherries add the perfect texture to every bite of this cake.
For the Cherry Vanilla Glaze:
- Maraschino cherry juice: to add even more cherry flavor to the glaze
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Salt
How to Make Glazed Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cake
Start by gathering all your ingredients and roughly chopping your cherries. I like a mixture of bigger and smaller pieces of cherries. This recipe comes together really quickly, so you’ll want to have everything measured out before you start mixing the batter.
Preheat your oven to 350℉/180℃ and prepare your cake pan. I prefer to use a 9-inch round cake pan for this recipe, but you can also just as easily use a square pan or a Bundt pan here. If you use a different type of pan, you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly. Use whatever cake pan you have on hand and check on the cake after about 30 minutes. If it’s not quite done, continue baking until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Line your cake pan with some parchment paper, or just spray it with a little cooking spray if you prefer.
Next, you’ll combine the ingredients, mix the batter, and add the chopped cherries. Then, while the cake is in the oven, you’ll make the Cherry Vanilla Glaze.
Here’s how to make this Glazed Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cake:
Mix your Dry and Wet Ingredients
You’ll need two mixing bowls for this recipe. When baking, I always combine my dry ingredients in the smaller of my two bowls, because I prefer to transfer the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and do the mixing in that bowl. This way, there’s no little pockets of flour at the bottom of the bowl, but this isn’t a rule, just my preference.
In the first bowl, combine the 1 ½ cups of flour, the ¼ cup of cocoa powder, the teaspoon of baking powder, the ½ teaspoon of baking soda and the ½ teaspoon of salt. Whisk everything together and make sure there are no little lumps of cocoa powder remaining. Set that bowl aside while you combine your wet ingredients in the second bowl. In that bowl, combine the cup of sugar, the teaspoon of vanilla extract, the ½ teaspoon of almond extract, the â…“ cup of maraschino cherry juice, the ½ cup of coconut oil (make sure it’s cooled down because you don’t want to start cooking the eggs), the ¼ cup of milk and the 2 eggs. Whisk everything together until the mixture is smooth.
Honestly, you could even just use one big mixing bowl if you prefer. Just whisk together the dry ingredients then move them to one side of the bowl using a spatula. Then, combine the wet ingredients on the other side of the bowl. Mix everything together, add the cherries, and you’re done (if you do it this way, you can skip the next section).
Make the Batter and Add the Cherries
Now we just combine the contents of both bowls for the cake batter. Like I mentioned, I typically prefer to pour my dry ingredients into my wet ingredients, but vice versa is just fine. Once your ingredients are combined, mix with a rubber or wooden spatula until just combined. As soon as you can no longer see flour, you can stop mixing. You don’t want to overmix the batter, but this isn’t a very thick batter, and it shouldn’t require any more than 30 seconds of mixing, so you don’t really have to worry about overmixing here.
Once you’ve combined the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, stir in the chopped maraschino cherries. The batter should be a fairly thin consistency; not liquidy, but still very easily pourable.
Bake the Cake
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bake at 350℉/180℃ for about 30 to 35 minutes. Depending on how hot your oven is, and the type of pan you used, it could take a little longer. While you’re waiting for the cake to finish baking, get started on the Cherry Vanilla Glaze.
After 30 minutes, check on the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, return it to the oven and continue to bake, checking on it every 5 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean. The cake should have risen slightly and no longer be soft and jiggly in the center.
Make the Cherry Vanilla Glaze
The glaze really brings this cake together and adds the perfect final touch. All you need to do is whisk the ingredients together. In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice, the ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, the ½ cup of powdered sugar and the pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth and pourable, then taste the glaze. If you want even more cherry flavor, add another tablespoon of maraschino cherry juice.
Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool for about 15 minutes before pouring on the glaze. Once it’s cooled, pour the glaze all over and let it harden for an extra 5 minutes. Once the glaze has hardened, cut the cake into 8 slices (or 10 small slices) and serve.
Recipe FAQs
What’s the secret to the best chocolate cherry cake?
The combination of melted coconut oil and maraschino cherry juice keeps this cake extra soft and moist. The Cherry Vanilla Glaze adds the perfect final touch.
Do I need to include the glaze in this recipe?
You technically can skip the glaze with this recipe, but I don’t recommend it. It’s the perfect addition to this cake and it brings the chocolate and cherry flavors together.
Can I substitute any of the ingredients in this recipe?
Absolutely! If you don’t like classic maraschino cherries, you could also use Luxardo-style maraschino cherries or regular sweet cherries, but I love the flavors of maraschino cherry and chocolate together. If you use regular sweet cherries, I recommend using frozen cherries so they’re already pitted and letting them thaw fully before chopping and adding to the batter.
You can substitute the coconut oil in this recipe for any other neutral oil such as avocado, canola or vegetable oil.
The almond extract is also optional in this recipe. If you don’t have it on hand, no need to substitute. Simply omit.
Can I add other ingredients to this recipe?
If you want to add a little bit of crunch, some chopped almonds would be great in this recipe! Either mix them into the cake batter, or use them to garnish the cake.
Can I make this cake gluten free?
To make the cake gluten free, substitute the all purpose flour for 1:1 gluten free flour.
Can I use a different size of baking dish?
Yes you can. A 9-inch square cake pan would work just fine, or a Bundt pan. You could also use a 9×13 inch baking dish, but you’ll end up with a much thinner cake. You could even use two muffin pans and make individual mini cakes.
If you’re using a different baking dish than a 9-inch round pan, you’ll need to keep an eye on the cake and adjust the baking time. For a square pan or Bundt pan, check on it after 30 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the center. For a 9×13 pan or muffin tin, check after 15 minutes.
Can this cake be frozen?
This cake can be frozen either before being cut into slices, or as individual pieces. If you plan to freeze the cake, don’t add the glaze. When you’re ready to serve the cake, make the glaze and pour it over. That way, the glaze won’t slide off the cake as it melts.
How do I store this cake?
Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container or in the baking dish covered in plastic wrap or foil and eat within 5 days. If you plan to finish the cake within 1 or 2 days, you can also store it covered on the counter.
More dessert recipes you might like
If you loved this Glazed Chocolate Maraschino, here are some more dessert recipes you might want to try:
- Layered Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies
- Apple Butter Bars with Browned Butter
- Easy Ube Cookies
- Orange Ricotta Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Recipe Card
Glazed Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract (see Note 1)
- â…“ cup maraschino cherry juice (the liquid from the jar)
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
- ¼ cup milk (see Note 2)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup maraschino cherries, roughly chopped (see Note 3)
Cherry Vanilla Glaze
- 2-3 tbsp maraschino cherry juice, to taste
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉/180℃ and grease or line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and set aside
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside
- In a medium bowl, combine sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, cherry juice, coconut oil, milk and eggs and whisk until smooth
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients in either bowl and mix with a spatula until combined, but do not overmix (stop mixing as soon as you can no longer see flour)
- Stir in the chopped cherries
- Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan (it should be fairly thin and easy to pour, but not liquidy)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Make the glaze; in a bowl, combine the cherry juice, vanilla, icing sugar and salt and whisk until smooth and pourable
- Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes then pour the glaze all over, ensuring the cake is fully covered
- Let the glaze harden for 2-3 minutes then cut into slices and serve
Notes
Nutrition
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