I love chocolate covered cherries. It is one of my favorite candies.
So why not a chocolate covered cherry cake? YES? YES!
This Easy Chocolate Cherry Sheet Cake is moist and delicious filled with cherries and topped with a crispy, fudge frosting.
This Easy Chocolate Cherry Sheet Cake is so delicious.
Maraschino cherries are mixed in with the batter.
A homemade chocolate fudge topping finishes it off! If you are feeling really indulgent, serve it with a side of cherry ice cream!
Everyone loves a good chocolate cake, but not everyone has had a chocolate cherry cake.
You can make this for parties, cookouts, and family gatherings. It will disappear quick.
Watch how to make
Now, this is a semi homemade recipe.... Meaning the cake comes out of a box and the cherry filling comes from a can.
I make alot of recipes from scratch. But if you can save a couple of steps and you have a winner for a dessert, why not?
I have found the box mixes really offer a moist cake, often more than the completely-from-scratch versions.
And if you don't have a lot of time, why bother with unnecessary complications.
Sometimes it is okay to skip a few corners.
However if you feel you must make a chocolate cake from scratch, Taste of Home has a classic chocolate cake recipe. You can follow their recipe for the cake, add in the cherries, and follow my recipe for frosting.
Ingredients
This is the list of ingredients you will need to make chocolate cherry sheet cake:
- Devil's Food Cake Mix- You can substitute with chocolate cake, but this mix works best.
- jar of maraschino cherries with out stems and the juice- You can use the ones with the stems, but you will need to remove the stems. Do not use canned cherries in pie filling.
- vegetable oil
- milk
- almond extract- This makes it taste like the center cherry filling in the chocolate covered cherry candy.
- sugar
- cocoa
- evaporated milk- Do not substitute with regular milk.
- butter
Steps
Follow these steps to make the chocolate cherry cake:
- In a mixing bowl, mix cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, and almond extract until well blended.
- Mix in maraschino cherries and juice.
- In a greased and floured 9x13 baking dish, pour batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 min.
- In the last 5 minutes of baking cake, begin to make frosting.
- In a medium saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and cocoa and bring to a boil stirring continuously.
- Boil frosting for one minute stirring and remove from heat.
- Remove from the heat. Add in butter, salt, and almond extract until smooth.
- Quickly spread frosting over warm cake. Frosting will harden as it cools, so spread frosting on cake right away.
- Allow cake to completely cool on wire rack to allow frosting to harden.
Frosting is everything!
My husband says, "You can't win friends with salad."
Let me tell you; you can win friends with this chocolate cherry cake topped with this home made fudge frosting.
The frosting really makes the cake.
Share the love... Share some cake... Share this chocolate cherry sheet cake. xoxo
If you like this recipe, check out: Chocolate Eclair Cake, Mexican Fried Ice Cream, Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter, and Chocolate Fudge Brownies.
📖 Recipe
Easy Chocolate Cherry Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box devil's food cake mix
- 10 ounces jars maraschino cherries with out stems and all of the cherry uice or liquid in the jar (If they have stems, remove them.)
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Frosting
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- ⅕ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick butter
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a mixing bowl, mix 1 box cake mix, 2 eggs, ¼ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup milk, and 1 teaspoon of almond extract until well blended.
- Mix in 10 ounce jar of maraschino cherries and the cherry juice from the jar.
- In a greased and floured 9x13 baking dish, pour batter.
- Bake 30 to 35 min.
- In the last 5 minutes of baking cake, begin to make frosting.
Frosting
- In a medium saucepan, combine ¼ cup evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, and ⅓ cup cocoa and bring to a boil stirring continuously.
- Boil for one minute stirring and remove from heat.
- Remove from the heat. Add in 1 stick butter, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon almond extract until smooth.
- Quickly spread over warm cake. Frosting will harden as it cools, so spread frosting on cake right away.
- Allow cake to completely cool on wire rack to allow frosting to harden.
Phil Schoeller says
This cake (or an early version of it) was my only food request for my birthday. My Mom made it for me every year. I am now 74 years old and I’ve been craving this cake for years! I’m so happy to have found your recipe. I have one problem - my wife hates maraschino cherries! I may just have to make brownies for her. My simple pleasure will be her loss.
shannon green says
Thankfully I am a good cook and baker and see the flaws in this printed recipe. I read the comments, and it is still not completely clear about the cherry juice. I had to watch the video to make it clear, and I chopped my cherries. Huge whole cherries make no sense. Also, using a soup spoon instead of a whisk for the frosting makes no sense. It's in the oven now and hopefully I can get back on here and update how it turned out.
Katie Crenshaw says
Hi Shannon. Thank you for your insights. I like the cherries whole, so that is a matter of preference, but chopped cherries are lovely too. Because the frosting is cooked in a saucepan, constant stirring is key to keeping it smooth and preventing scorching. A whisk doesn’t reach the edges and bottom of the pan well, which leaves little hot spots that can burn quickly. I've found a sturdy metal spoon works best for scraping every bit of the pan and gives me better control in helping the frosting turn out silky and not scorched. I will update the recipe card for better verbiage about the cherry juice. I hope you enjoy the cake.
Heather says
Does this need to be refrigerated?
Katie Crenshaw says
No it does not need to be refrigerated.
Ann Barfknecht says
Made the cake. Wonderful taste. Used granulated sugar for frosting and it never came to a boil was a thick mixture. Carried on with directions but frosting was grainy. Should I have used powdered sugar??? Also please clarify juice or no juice in cake. I used juice and cherries both.
Katie Crenshaw says
Hi Ann. The frosting does need to come to a soft boil for the sugar to melt and become smooth. You do use granulated sugar. My directions do specify using the cherry juice in the cake. There is a video in the recipe card and post demonstrating how to make the cake that will be helpful. I hope this helps.
SANDRA M. PESCATRICE-CORBIN says
want to make this recipe...sounds delish. BUT I need clarification. Ingredients say "reserve juice" but directions say "add cherries and juice". ??? Do I add Juice?
Thanks a bunch
Sandy
Katie Crenshaw says
You add both the cherries and juice at the same time. I put "reserve the juice" in the ingredients, because some people will drain the juice before reading the directions. But I will reword it to make better sense. Hope you like it.
Courtney says
This cake turns out wonderful. I made it for Christmas.Loved it.
Katie says
That was a typo. I am sorry. It is a 10oz jar of cherries. I hope you like it.
Tammy says
Could you make this without the almond extract? My son loves chocolate covered cherries and I think he'd like this cake, but he's allergic to all nuts.
Katie says
Yes. The extract just gives it a kick, but it would still be good.
Michael says
Sweet! Thanks!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
Mmmm. I love chocolate with cherries!! And in cake form, delish!!
Kim | Low Carb Maven says
What a fantastic dessert, Katie. I have an old fashioned recipe for a marashino cake, but it was NOT chocolate. Wow! That fudge frosting makes it. How wonderful.
Agness of Run Agness Run says
What a succulent treat you prepared, Katie! I love the creamy and chocolate texture, plus the cherry on the top! Yummy!