Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total: 45 mins
Servings: 12 to 16 servings
This great-tasting chocolate fudge cherry cake is made with a boxed cake mix and cherry pie filling. It looks more complicated than it is, but the prepared storebought ingredients make quick work of putting the cake together. The sweet-tart nature of cherries adds brightness to the depth of chocolate; they complement each other well.
You don’t really need an excuse to make a cake, because cake, especially one like this, makes every day feel special. This one, however, is rich and festive yet incredibly easy to prepare. It works really well as a birthday cake too. You can make your own frosting as the recipe indicates here, try a cream cheese-based frosting, or save time with a store-bought frosting.
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
-
1 (15 1/4-ounce) box devil's food cake mix
-
1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling, or homemade version
-
2 large eggs
-
1 teaspoon almond extract, optional
For the Frosting
-
1 cup granulated sugar
-
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
-
1/3 cup milk
-
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Steps to Make It
-
Gather the ingredients.
-
Heat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan.
-
In a mixing bowl, mix the cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs, and almond extract by hand.
-
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
-
Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
-
For the frosting, place sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan.
-
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute.
-
Remove from the heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth.
-
Pour the frosting over the warm cake.
-
Let cool, then serve and enjoy.
Variations
- Feel free to experiment with different kinds of chocolate cake mixes, such as dark chocolate or red velvet. Cherry is great with all of those flavors.
- Vary the cake flavor altogether, and use coconut, vanilla, or a yellow cake mix. Cherry filling and chocolate frosting would still work with those cake bases.
- You can also substitute canned raspberry, strawberry, or blueberry pie filling instead of cherry.
- You can easily make this gluten-free by using a gluten-free cake mix instead.
How to Store and Freeze Chocolate Cherry Cake
This cake will keep well if covered at room temperature for four to five days. If you'd like to keep it for longer, you can freeze it, wrapped, for up to three months. Just defrost in the fridge and then let it come to room temperature before serving. (Hint: Freezing cakes in slices is really helpful.)
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 12 to 16 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 210 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 8g | 10% |
| Saturated Fat 5g | 23% |
| Cholesterol 33mg | 11% |
| Sodium 68mg | 3% |
| Total Carbohydrate 35g | 13% |
| Dietary Fiber 1g | 3% |
| Total Sugars 21g | |
| Protein 2g | |
| Vitamin C 1mg | 7% |
| Calcium 32mg | 2% |
| Iron 1mg | 4% |
| Potassium 98mg | 2% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
