Moist Cherry Sheet Cake is topped with a homemade almond buttercream frosting. It is easy and SO delicious!!
Cherry sheet cake is packed full of delicious cherry flavors!!! If you love cherry desserts like I do, you’ll also love Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes, Cherry Almond Cupcakes, and Glazed Cherry Bars.
WHO LOVES CHERRIES?
The family loves cherries! Do you?
I know, I know – Maraschnio cherries are filled with sugar and have lost some of their true flavoring, but they are SO good in drinks and desserts – like today’s Cherry Sheet Cake!
With cherries all through out and a delicious almond buttercream frosting, this cake is so moist and so tasty!
Cherry and almonds are just a perfect pairing. We have tried a lot of fruity cakes recently, but this one has to be my favorite. If you love cherries, then you gotta try this dessert. It’s AMAZING!
How to make cherry sheet cake
PREP. Preheat oven to 350.
BLEND. Begin by adding your cherries to a blender or food processor and blending.
COMBINE. Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and water in a large bowl until well blended. Add JELL-O mix and pureed cherries. Mix well.
BAKE. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cake cool.
FROST + ENJOY! While cake is cooling make frosting by creaming together the butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk – blend well. Frost cake and enjoy!
Variations
This recipe uses cherry Jell-O gelatin powder for flavoring. This means you can easily substitute the cherry flavor for strawberry or raspberry and the maraschino cherries for cut strawberries or raspberries.
Also, this cherry flavored cake would pair really well with chocolate. You can top the current recipe with chocolate chips or chocolate shavings. You can even replace the cream cheese almond frosting with a chocolate frosting. No matter what you choose for flavoring I’m sure it will be delicious.
RECIPE Tips
If the frosting is too runny, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a bit of milk. STORE any leftover frosting in the freezer in an airtight container for 3 months.
Homemade Cake: Sometimes I like to make a recipe the quickest, easiest, but still delicious, way possible. Enter the boxed cake mix. If you would like to use your favorite white cake mix from scratch, you can definitely do that. Once you have the batter mixed, follow the rest of the recipe to add the cherries and flavored Jell-O and, of course, the frosting.
Size of pan to use for this cake: For this recipe I used a 9×13 cake pan. But you can easily use other pan sizes. The directions for cook time should be on the cake mix box, but here are some basic guidelines in case you need them. Keep in mind different ovens cook a little differently so begin checking a few minutes before the suggested time. Use a toothpick to insert in the center of the cake. When it comes out clean, pull the cake out of the oven.
- 11×13 pan: bake at 350°F for 20-25 min
- Two 8” rounds: bake at 350°F for 30-35 min
- Two 9:rounds: bake at 350°F for 25-30 min
- Cupcakes: Bake at 350°F for 15-20 min
Storing Info
This cake can sit out on the counter for about a couple hours before covering the pan with plastic wrap and STORING it in the fridge.
FREEZE the cake for up to 4 months:
- Frosted: Flash freeze first by placing the whole cake or as individual slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in the freezer for a few hours or until the outside has frozen.
- Unfrosted: Properly wrap the plain or frosted cake with plastic wrap. Then you can either wrap the cake again with aluminum foil or place the cake in an airtight freezer safe container.
For Other Fruity Desserts, check out:
More Collections: Cakes That Feed A Crowd
Cherry Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 package white cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 oz cherry Jell-O
- 10-12 oz maraschino cherries drained
Almond Buttercream Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Begin by adding your cherries to a blender or food processor and blending.
- Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and water in a large bowl until well blended. Add JELL-O mix and pureed cherries. Mix well.
- Pour into a greased 9×13 pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Let cake cool.
- While cake is cooling make frosting by creaming together the butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk – blend well. Frost cake. ENJOY!
Love the beautiful color!! I take this to my in-laws anytime I am in charge of dessert. It is always a hit & makes plenty!
My husband and I love maraschino cherries, and this cake was fantastic! And it is such a pretty color. 🙂
Yay! So glad you both enjoyed the cake. I love the color too!
The cake looks beautiful! I used a recipe for a white cake mix, as I didn’t have one at home. It calls for flour, sugar, salt & baking powder. The cake didn’t rise as well as I’d hoped, and the cake seemed way too sweet, especially after icing. I may try again with a store bought box mix. If anyone has thoughts about why my cake was so sweet. Or maybe it was because it didn’t rise as well. I don’t know, but your cake looks so pretty I’ll probably try again. Thank you!
This is so fun and flavorful. I love how easy it is to throw together too!
Cherry-tastic! Super delish! So moist and such incredible cherry flavor!! YUM!
Two teaspoons of almond extract I’m the frosting is absolutely way too much. I had to throw it out and start all over.
Thanks for sharing your feedback and for giving the recipe a try!
Made this today and it was amazing! The cake was moist and flavorful and the frosting was perfect. I saved a tablespoon of cherry juice to make the frosting pink. This was a 10/10.
Looks great. If I wanted to make the cake in a 12″x17″ what modifications would I need? Thanks