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 yaโฆ 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
Ingredients
- 35 1/2 โ 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
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients on low until incorporated, then increase speed and blend for 1-3 minutes until reach desired consistency
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Seriously. Thatโs how I do it. I am considering changing my blog name to โi am impatient bakerโ.

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 donโt 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 Tidymomโs Iโm Lovin It blog party! Stop on by!
This cherry cake looks so cute!! Even if the cake itself didnโt turn out as spectacular as you had hoped, it sure looks yummy. All of those bright colors look just gorgeous.
How cute! Youโre such an inspiration!!! I just wish I could decorate like you!! And I love your crusting buttercream frosting โ 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 isnโt overwhelming!
Such a gorgeous cake. I am utterly jealous of your baking skills.
oooh boy this is a sweet cakeโฆso cute! Reminds me of the days playing HI HO Cherry-O with my daughther those were good timesโฆ.
That is AMAZEBALLS!!! so talented!
This is so cute! I wouldnโt 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 usโฆI just HATE the Feedjit thing. Iโve asked the thing to ignore my browser but the change never sticks so have to do it every time. Just sayinโโฆ) Thanks for listening!
Most beautiful cake ever!! So cute and colorful and kitschy.
Also, Iโm not EXACTLY sure what kitschy means, but I am pretty sure it means cute and retroish.
You can make this for my birthday anytime!!
Iโm sorry the flavor wasnโt 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 youโre impatientโฆ ) It looks PERFECT and as you know from seeing my cake pics on Facebook, itโs the one thing I really want to learn how to do better.
Itโs completely artificial, but I wonder what adding a teaspoon or two of maraschino cherry juice would add to the party?