Happy Birthday Rachael Ray!
On August 25th Rachael is celebrating her birthday. Her fun and loyal staff over at Everyday With Rachael Ray Magazine thought it would be neat to get the world involved!
If YOU would like to make her a cake click on her facebook page and just post it! It could be see by thousands of fans!
I have been wanting to make these birthday cookies into a cake forever.
They were so fun and easy and I love when my friends let me make them cookies!
I also thought it would be fun to make the actual cake a cherry cake too! So I tried the Maraschino Cherry Cake recipe from Cooks.com.
I actually followed the recipe ingredients and directions exactly.
Gotta tell ya… I could not even taste a hint of cherry in it. Now, we all know that my palette is far from refined, but I can pick up on subtle if I am really trying.
And I did try.
I closed my eyes and everything.
It tasted like a bland vanilla cake. Boo! Hiss! Wah.
For the frosting I used my favorite full fat buttercream of the moment.
Buttercream Frosting
71/2 – 8 cups of powder sugar (or a 2 lb. bag)
1 cup shortening
1-2 tsp vanilla (if making white frosting use clear vanilla)
1/2 -3/4 cup milk (I have also used whipping cream and whole milk)
Blend all ingredients on low until incorporated, then increase speed and blend for 1-3 minutes until reach desired consistency.
Seriously. That's how I do it. I am considering changing my blog name to "i am impatient baker".
One change that was a really welcome addition was adding a 1/2 cup of finely diced maraschino cherries to the center layer.
They saved the cake.
Subtle. Sweet. Bright obnoxious red and turquoise cake with a hint of cherry flavor.
Interesting fact: I don't like cherries.
If you have a good Cherry Cake recipe and want to share, feel free to point me in the right direction.
If you want to join me in a slice while I conduct a pity party, then please, pull up a chair. This could be an all-nighter.
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I linked this to Tidymom's I'm Lovin It blog party! Stop on by!
I LOOOOOOOOOVE it!! Sersiously Amanda, this one is one of my favorite cakes you’ve made. Simple, yet gorgeous and you know i LOVE the colors!
Bummer on the recipe, I’ll keep my eyes out for a cherry cake recipe.
hehe “I Am Impatient Baker” – we’d have to share that title!
Love this!!! I must try it!!!
thinking about a good chocolate cake, like an inside out chocolate covered cherry cake. 
hahah
Simply gorgeous!
I have a wonderful chocolate cherry recipe if you would like it… definitely can taste the cherries… let me know
Love red and turquoise! This is going to be my internet birthday cake
The colors are just beautiful!
And I love anything cherry! Looks delish!
xoxo
I took a regular cake recipe and made it strawberry by adding a box of strawberry jello pudding (not jello) and some chopped strawberries. I thought it was too subtle, but nice. The hubs thought it was perfect. I plan on adding just a bit of strawberry extract next time. Maybe you could try that but with cherries? Just a thought.
I would love the chocolate cherry recipe Sarah mentioned
Oh how yummy and so beautifully decorated!! Amanda, you rock!
So pretty Amanda!! Loving the colour combination and would LOVE to try a slice!
Because you have shared so much with me…my secret to cherry taste (for some reason I get lots of request for cherry flavored confections!) is to replace a portion of the liquid in your recipe with the “juice” from the maraschino cherries. Experiment to taste. And i always chop them and add to the filling, just like you did. Its more than subtle, but less intense than the cherry pudding. Perfect for even non cherry lovers.
love the cake!
You might want to try a little variation on the buttercream recipe…I use that one all the time too…but I use half butter and half shortening. It doesnt have a greasy feeling on your tongue…my family loves it. Let me know if you try the change
love, love, love Amanda – the colors are so bright and cheery!!
Oh my goodness. Wait until Bridget see’s this cake
Sorry the flavour wasn’t all you had hoped but your certainly dressed it up beautifully.
Here’s a little recipe I made in April for my daughter’s bridal shower. They were yummy!! Give it a try and let me know what ya think. http://curlywillowdiy.blogspot.com/2011/04/vickis-test-kitchen.html
It is tooo cute!! It makes me want to go on a picnic!! And that is a GOOD thing
Love this!! You and Bridget need to get together with your cherry sweets! And, if you make this again, be sure to borrow my apron that matches this cake PERFECTLY!!
I absolutely love this. It’s so funny. I am making an anniversary cake for my husband and I’m using those exact colors, minus the green (black instead). The cherries will be daisies instead. This an awesome cake. I have to keep this design in mind when I do a black forest cake or cherry ice cream cake. Love your work Amanda. I’m always stalking you on Facebook.not in a creepy way though!
Beautiful cake, as always, but Buttercream Frosting without butter? Why?
I love the way you decorated this cake. It’s so pretty.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Love the blue and the red! And I’m going to try your frosting…here’s a confession. I don’t love SMBC.
LOVE it! I said in this blog post of mine: http://houseofestrogen.typepad.com/house_of_estrogen/2011/06/simple-womans-daybook-june-6-2011.html that I wanted a dress to match my daughter’s swimsuit. I didn’t know until now that I needed a cake to match it too! Beautiful! Your colors are spot-on!
Love the frosting colors – too darn cute! Sorry to hear the originally recipe didn’t work out but isn’t that just the way sometimes – such a shame.
I love your story telling! This cake reminds me of a piece of vintage fabric I used to use in my design business. I must go through the storage and find that remnant! I adore the look of this cake – the color of the frosting is intoxicating and your art work is spot on! You need a book deal…
when you do your cakes, do you cut the outside “crust” off of the cakes? I have the darndest time trying to keep the shape of the cake and cut the crust off… AND trying to keep the sides perfectly vertical – FORGET ABOUT IT….
Any tips you can pass my way? or a link you can send me?
You can add powdered cherry drink mix to your recipe as long as you don’t mind the color change.
I LOVE the way you decorated the cake. Red and Turquoise together are my fave! I’ve never tried this recipe from cooks country, but it’s one I’ve always wanted to:
http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Cherry-Chocolate-Chip-Cake/8116/
Very pretty! I think the cherry concentrate from King Arthur Flour would greatly help the cherry flavor… Ooh, I’ll have to add that to a cake next time and decorate it like yours. Beautiful!
I haven’t made a cherry cake before but at least you got a beautifully decorated cake from it all!! Just tell everyone it was supposed to be vanilla…with a hint of cherry.
That looks very cheery! What a pretty cake, and it sounds like it would taste delicious! This is going on the “Must Try” list!
Your interesting fact made me laugh the hardest… I too dislike anything cherry “flavored” (except for actual cherries… at the farmstand, in say…June)
I love cherries in chocolate cakes. And I think your decorating is beyond cute!
That is a beautiful cake!! Love it! If you are the impatient baker then I am the seriously messy baker
Seriously – so beautiful! I love cherries and I love the colors on that cake.
Gosh that looks neat and simple to do. I would like to believe i can do it too.
I love the colors, very cute cake! I LOVE maraschino cherries, YUM, I could eat a whole jar, and I’m talking those big giant jars, like bulk size
I’m not a cherry fan, but this looks yummy!! The cake is so cute and fun, what a great idea!!
Maybe for the “cherry taste”, could you use a cherry-flavour extract? I bought an apple-flavoured extract for the royal icing on sugar, apple-shaped cookies that I made for teachers @ school-year end. Check out this website from my supplier, Faerie’s Finest: “http://www.faeriesfinest.com/extracts.html”
This cherry cake looks so cute!! Even if the cake itself didn’t turn out as spectacular as you had hoped, it sure looks yummy. All of those bright colors look just gorgeous.
How cute! You’re such an inspiration!!! I just wish I could decorate like you!! And I love your crusting buttercream frosting – thanks for sharing!
I also use the Cherry Concentrate from King Arthur Flour (as another commented), and made these cupcakes with it: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cherry-cupcakes-recipe, substituting melted butter for the oil. I also love using the cherry concentrate to tint my frosting a lovely dark pink. It cuts down on the sweetness factor, and the cherry taste isn’t overwhelming!
Such a gorgeous cake. I am utterly jealous of your baking skills.
oooh boy this is a sweet cake…so cute! Reminds me of the days playing HI HO Cherry-O with my daughther those were good times….
That is AMAZEBALLS!!! so talented!
This is so cute! I wouldn’t want to cut it. Great job!
Such a fun cake! Cherries make me happy!
Hi Amanda, maybe a little organic cherry flavoring would add a little more cherry flavor?
(I love, love, love your blog, your humor and sharing everything with us…I just HATE the Feedjit thing. I’ve asked the thing to ignore my browser but the change never sticks so have to do it every time. Just sayin’…) Thanks for listening!
Most beautiful cake ever!! So cute and colorful and kitschy.
Also, I’m not EXACTLY sure what kitschy means, but I am pretty sure it means cute and retroish.
You can make this for my birthday anytime!!
I’m sorry the flavor wasn’t what you had hoped for Amanda, but I love love LOVE the cutsie cherries! I would also love to know how you get such a smooth finish on your cake without spending hours futzing with it. (You did mention that you’re impatient… ) It looks PERFECT and as you know from seeing my cake pics on Facebook, it’s the one thing I really want to learn how to do better.
It’s completely artificial, but I wonder what adding a teaspoon or two of maraschino cherry juice would add to the party?
I’m wondering how you were able to get that beautiful red color in your frosting? I always end up with bright pink!
I made a Marschino Cherry Cake recently, but used a box mix that I doctored with the cherries, butter etc. I could definitely taste the cherries and it was a pretty, bright pink. My cakes aren’t as pretty as yours, but you can have a look. Hope it’s okay to leave the link. http://eatathomecooks.com/2011/05/maraschino-cherry-cake.html
I don’t like eating cherries either, but I love looking at this gorgeous cake! In fact, I repinned it from Tidymom’s Pinterest account yesterday:) Such a beauty!
so stinkin cute though! Love it.
Gorgeous cake! What a bummer about not being able to taste the cherries. The look of the cake certainly makes up for the lack of cherry flavor!
SO gorgeous…you have a fabulous color sense, Amanda.
SO beautiful.
Love the color combination on this cake, so retro!
Are you kidding? This is TOOOO cute! I love it! You are so creative my dear.
So cute!
Nice that you bake a cake for RR’s b’day and not for mine…what??!!
GORGEOUS! Red cherries on lt blue backgrounds are one of my most favorite prints. Reminds me of oil cloth. Great job girl!
This is a beautiful cake!
I LOVE this cake!! I want to make this cake into a dress
You are so funny. Sorry you didn’t like the cake part, but the outside looks amazing. Hope you find a cherry cake you like.
That is, hands down, one of the cutest cakes I have ever seen!!! I love the red and turquoise!! To be honest, I have never had a cherry cake but now it is on my lists of things to try – sadly, I probably won’t find one as good as yours!
Gorgeous!
Such a cute cake!
My absolute favorite cherry cake recipe (and I think the only one I’ve ever made), is this chocolate cherry cupcake recipe from Nigella Lawson. To die for, so rich! http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-cherry-cupcakes-144
That is such a precious cake! Just like you!
What tip did you use to create the cherries? SO cute I am going to have to try making it!
SO cute Amanda!!! I absolutely LOVE the whimsical cherry design, it is sooo Summery and cheerful!
I love love love this cake. How do you get such vibrant red frosting for the cherries?
Sorry the taste was so bland, but at least it was adorable. I don’t know why, but I just love that blue and red together. It looks so retro, just love it! Awesome, as always!
Oooh! So cute! I love cherries!
xx G
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Gayatri
Look who’s Wearing (LwW)
it is realy beautiful!! great idea!!
That cake is so adorable! I made some cherry and almond cakes ( http://thecupcakearchitect.blogspot.com/2011/07/cherry-and-almond-teacakes.html originally a Martha recipe ) that were delicious and you could substitute any other berry. I made the same recipe recently in a cake tin and it was delicious!
Cherry syrup or cherry brandy is good for flavour, I found mine in an Eastern European shop.
Will Rachael take cookies? She doesn’t want a Callye cake, BULIEVE me! I cannot believe you don’t like cherries. Say it ain’t so
LOVE how you decorated this cake1 so pretty!
Your cakes are always gorgeous. I would hate to eat them. I would, but it would make me sad to have them gone.
Please…when you call for shortening in your buttercream recipe. Do you mean Crisco (or the like) or butter? Sorry if it is a stupid question.
Thanks!
Omgosh! your cakes are so wonderful! I wish I had a slice of that right now!
I just started my own cooking/food/wedding planning and more blog! I would love for you to check it out if you have time! Follow if you like.
itsjustcalledspicy.blogspot.com
Gorgeous cake! And ps – should you need another friend to take your cookies, you can find me at http://www.sugarloco.com…ha!
I love Rachel Ray…and this cake is super gorgeous! As always.
OMG I think I’m in love with you. I mean, uh this cake. Yes that’s what I meant.
I love cherries in all forms, but most of all I love them exactly like this! You’re my hero.
beyond adorable!!
Thanks for linking up Amanda, I featured your stunning cake in my wrap up http://tidymom.net/2011/great-ideas-6/
Have a beautiful rest of the weekend.
You are so creative, I just adore you.
I second Jen’s nomination: http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Cherry-Chocolate-Chip-Cake/8116/
I have tried it and I thought it tasted like cherries. But my favorite part was the chocolate-dipped cherries on top!
your cherries look very realistic, amanda. impressive! those maraschino cherries scare me a little, but your end result is magnificent.
I happen to have a pair of jammies that look exactly like the cake! Now I have to give it a try.
This cake is just gorgeous, Amanda!! I know someone who just loves cherries, and she would just go crazy for this cake!
I’ve always, always loved the cookie version of this, and it’s just as wonderful in cake form! Way, way too cute for words.
i like your post .. your cake looks so delicious .. i like the color combination .. so beautiful ..
I am not a maraschino cherry fan, but that is so cute I would probably love it anyways!!
I love the decorating, it is gorgeous. Were you able to participate in A Pie For Mikey, whether you blogged about it or not? Such a beautiful and unique tribute, though I know you’re busy (and blessed!) with your children!
http://iammommy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/08/peanut-butter-pie-and-love.html
Thanks Izzy! Yes, I did a pie for Mikey… such a beautiful coming together of the food blogging community. Will have Jennifer in my prayers for a long time!
Adorable!!!!
How cute! I can’t wait to make this at home!
-Karen
Totally adorable
It looks stunning! I was looking for a simple cherry cake recipe, but this has me inspired to make a dazzling looking thing as well! It’s our wedding anniversary coming up, so this is a great option
Thanks for posting it.
I love this cake! It is so cute!
I love your blog too:)
you were the inspiration for me when I started my blog:)
(If that doesn’t sound hokey:))
Did you do a tutorial on this? If not, can you tell me how to make the cherries please? I would love to make this for a friend and need to know what tips you used, etc. Thanks!!
I gotta tell you, I love this cake. As I am a little obsessed with cherries ( as my whole kitchen is done in Mary Engelbreit) I cannot wait to make it for my next get together.
Hi, Amanda. I’ve been pining for this cake for a year and it’s time to make it for my niece’s first birthday! What tip did you use to pipe the cherries?