Cherry Sour Cream Cake

Light sour cream cake with cherry pie filling and cherry flavored frosting makes any day feel like a celebration. Perfect for special occasions or when a special dessert is in order.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Cake Cooling and Assembly (estimated) 1

Total Time 1 40

Servings slices

Calories 567kcal

Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

Cake

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend*
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract vanilla extract can be substituted

Cherry filling

1 cup cherry pie filling canned or homemade

Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
6 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
Optional garnish: 8 cherries, 3 tablespoons sliced almonds

Instructions

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray (or butter and flour).
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the sour cream, butter, egg whites, and almond (or vanilla) extract. Mix together with a hand mixer for 2 minutes until well combined.
The batter will be thick.
Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Spread batter to the edges with a spatula or knife.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a cooling rack before proceeding with frosting the cake.

Frosting

Using an immersion blender or a food processor, chop the cherry pie filling until the large chunks are gone.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
Add part of the powdered sugar and continue mixing until combined. Continue adding in the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth and creamy.
Add in the maraschino cherry juice and continue mixing for another 2 minutes.
Assess and adjust the frosting consistency as needed. If the frosting will be piped and the frosting is too thin, add another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
If the frosting is too thick, add another tablespoon of cherry juice or milk.

How to assemble the cake

Place the bottom cake layer on a cake plate, cake stand, or on a cake decorating stand. Add a little bit of frosting and cover the entire top, about 1/4 inch thick.
Fill a piping bag with 1 cup of frosting and tip the bag with a 1A Wilton tip.
If a piping bag is not available, fill a plastic bag with 1 cup of frosting and cut the corner off to create a round tip.
Line the outer edge just inside the outer edge on top of the cake layer) of the cake layer with a ribbon of frosting. This will create a dam for the the cherry filling.
Squeeze any remaining frosting back into the bowl and use to frost the cake.
Spoon the cherry pie filling into the middle of the cake and gently spread it to the edges.
Be careful not to overfill, the cherry pie filling should not fill higher than the frosting edging that was piped on.
Gently add the second cake layer on top of the cake.
Frost the top and sides of the cake.

Decorating the top of the cake (optional)

To decorate the top, fill a piping bag with the remaining frosting and tip the bag with a 1M Wilton tip.
Create swirls around the top edges of the cake, top with cherries, and sprinkle almond slices (optional).
If there is leftover frosting you may use it to add a ribbon around the bottom of the cake.

Notes

Yields:

2 layer cake - 12 slices
Frosting Yields 5 cups - Enough for 2 layer cake or 24 cupcakes

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

*For gluten-free baking we use:

Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 flour blend

Processing the cherry filling is key. This will help the cherry pie filling spread on the cake layer and not leave large chunks of cherries to fall out of the cake when cut.

The frosting will have a pink hue, keep it as is or 1-3 drops of red food coloring gel can be added to intensify the pink color.

Frosting: if you prefer to not use cherry juice use 5 tablespoons of milk and 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract in it's place.

Variations

The almond slices are optional just as the almond extract in the cake itself.

Vanilla extract can be used in place of the almond extract and the almonds off of the top of the cake as desired.

Another cake option would be to substitute vanilla extract instead of the almond extract and frost with a chocolate frosting. Chocolate shavings would be good on top with the chocolate frosting.

Tip for cooling the cake

Do not proceed to the filling and frosting until the cake is completely cooled as the frosting will melt.
The cake can be made the day prior to assembly. Cool the cake layers for 1 hour at room temperature then cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
If overnight chilling isn't an option refrigerate for 2-3 hours to get a good chill.

Nutrition