Easy Chocolate Cherry Icing Cake Recipe

I Oversalted the Batter. Then I Made It Again.

I added a full tablespoon of salt instead of a teaspoon — I was measuring without my glasses on, which I do too often. The cake came out, smelled incredible, and tasted like a salted chocolate disaster that no amount of cherry icing was going to fix.

I made it again the next morning. Not because I was being optimistic. Because I was annoyed.

That second version is this recipe.

The Coffee Is Not Optional.

Most chocolate cake recipes that call for coffee include some vague note about how it “deepens the chocolate flavor.” Fine. But what they don’t tell you is that the coffee also thins the batter in a way that actually helps the cocoa powder hydrate evenly — I noticed this when I watched the dry lumps disappear faster than they do in other batters I’ve made.

I thought about swapping it for hot water — actually no, I left it as coffee. A full cup of strong black, slightly cooled.

The batter will look almost too thin at this point. It isn’t.

Buttermilk goes in alongside it, and the combination is what makes the crumb tight enough to hold up to a generous layer of icing without getting soggy at the edges. I learned that distinction after a version where I used regular milk — the layers slid.

About the Pans.

Two 9-inch rounds. Grease them, flour them — don’t skip the flour step even if your pans are nonstick.

I once used a silicone pan because I thought it would release cleanly. It didn’t, and the bottom tore off when I tried to unmold it at 8 minutes. The wire rack left a full grid print in the surface.

Standard metal pans. Nothing else.

Quick tip: Let the cakes rest exactly 10 minutes in the pans before turning them out — not 5, not 15. At 10 minutes the edges have pulled away just enough that the cake releases without cracking.

The Icing Looked Wrong. It Wasn’t.

Cherry juice in a chocolate buttercream always looks curdled at first. There’s a moment — usually about halfway through adding the powdered sugar — where everything turns grainy and sort of pale purple, and it looks completely ruined.

Keep beating. Give it another 90 seconds on medium.

The cherry liqueur goes in last. I used grenadine the first time, which worked, though the icing came out sweeter than I wanted. The liqueur version is sharper — there’s a faint tartness underneath the chocolate that I prefer. My neighbor Diane tasted both and voted for the grenadine, which tells you something about Diane.

The icing should be spreadable but not runny. If you drag a spoon through it and the track holds its shape for about 4 seconds before slowly filling back in, it’s ready.

Frosting It Without Losing Your Mind.

Both layers need to be completely cold before you frost. Not cool. Cold. I waited 45 minutes on the rack the first successful time and still felt a slight warmth in the center when I pressed the top. I waited another 20 minutes.

Warm cake + buttercream = a sliding, melting situation that no amount of refrigerating afterward will fully fix.

Spread icing on the first layer, then place the second layer directly on top — gently, not dropped. Then frost the outside in two passes: a thin coat first to catch the crumbs, refrigerate for 15 minutes, then the real coat. Most recipes skip that first thin pass. They’re wrong.

Fresh cherries go on top. Stems on or off, either works. I placed mine in a loose cluster off-center because I was trying to make it look casual, which is its own kind of effort.

What I’d Change Next Time.

The bake time runs 30–35 minutes, and I’ve found 33 minutes is usually the number in my oven — but that’s a specific oven in a specific kitchen at a specific altitude, and yours might be different by 3 or 4 minutes either way.

I’d also use a slightly smaller amount of powdered sugar in the icing next time — maybe 2¾ cups instead of 3. The full 3 cups makes it sweeter than I like with the cherry flavor, which is already fairly forward.

I haven’t done it yet. So I can’t tell you if it works.

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Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, then flour them — tap out the excess so there’s just a thin, even coat on the inside. Set them aside while you mix.

Step 2: Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk them together until there are no visible streaks of cocoa or pockets of baking soda. (Don’t rush this — uneven dry mixing shows up as bitter spots in the finished cake.)

Step 3: Add the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract directly into the dry ingredients. The batter will look very wet and loose — that’s correct. Beat on medium speed for 2 full minutes. I watched the clock on this one because I used to stop at 90 seconds and the texture was always slightly off.

Step 4: Pour the batter evenly between the two pans. If you want to be precise, weigh them — they should be within about 20 grams of each other. Uneven layers make frosting harder than it needs to be.

Step 5: Bake for 30–35 minutes. Start checking at 30. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with one or two dry crumbs — not wet batter. The edges will also have pulled slightly from the sides of the pan. (If your oven runs hot, check at 28 minutes.)

Step 6: Cool the cakes in their pans for exactly 10 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks. Let them cool completely — at least an hour, ideally more. Do not rush this.

Step 7: Beat the softened butter until it’s creamy and slightly pale, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the cocoa powder and powdered sugar, alternating with the cherry juice in two or three additions. The mixture will look strange in the middle of this process. Keep going. Add the cherry liqueur or grenadine last and beat until the icing is smooth and holds a soft peak. Does your icing ever go grainy in the middle of mixing? Share below!

Step 8: Place one cooled cake layer on your serving plate. Spread a generous amount of cherry icing across the top. Set the second layer on top, pressing down very lightly to level it. Apply a thin crumb coat over the entire outside of the cake and refrigerate for 15 minutes before adding the final coat of icing.

Step 9: Finish with the remaining icing on the outside. Smooth it or leave it textured — either looks intentional. Arrange fresh cherries on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Ways to Change It Up

Try this: Skip the cherry liqueur and use raspberry juice instead of cherry juice in the icing — the flavor shifts from sweet-tart to something sharper, and it works well if you’re topping with fresh raspberries instead of cherries.

Try this: Add a layer of canned cherry pie filling between the cake layers before the icing — just spread it thin so it doesn’t push the layers apart. It adds a jammy, sticky middle that my kids preferred over the plain iced version.

Try this: Make it a single-layer sheet cake in a 9×13 pan and increase the bake time to about 40 minutes. The icing quantity is the same and actually covers it more generously, which isn’t a bad outcome.

Which would you go for? Drop it in the comments.

How to Serve It

Serve it at room temperature, not cold from the fridge — the icing firms up in the refrigerator and loses some of its texture. Pull it out about 30 minutes before you plan to slice it.

A scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside makes the cherry flavor more noticeable, not less — something about the cold cream against the room-temperature icing sharpens the contrast.

It also works on its own with black coffee. That’s how I’ve had it most often, honestly — standing at the counter at 9 p.m., no plate.

What would you pair it with?

Storing It Without Ruining It

Covered in the fridge, this cake keeps for about 4 days. The icing gets denser by day 3, but the cake itself stays moist — the buttermilk and oil combination holds moisture better than butter-based batters do over time.

For freezing: wrap individual slices in plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Thaw overnight in the fridge, not on the counter. Counter-thawing makes the icing weep.

Don’t try to reheat this in the microwave. The icing melts unevenly and the cake gets rubbery at the edges while staying cold in the center. If you want it slightly warm, 10 seconds maximum — and accept that the icing will be soft.

You can also freeze the unfrosted cake layers for up to 2 months. Wrap them tightly while still slightly warm — it traps just enough steam to keep them from drying out. Make the icing fresh when you’re ready to assemble.

Have you ever saved leftovers like this? Tell me below!

Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To

I once forgot to grease the pans and only floured them. Half the bottom of one cake stayed in the pan. I scraped it out and pressed it back on as best I could before frosting. You could see the line.

I added the cherry juice too fast — poured it all in at once instead of gradually — and the icing broke into a thin, greasy liquid that looked like chocolate milk. I had to start the icing over completely from scratch. Pouring slowly matters.

The first time I frosted a warm layer, the icing slid off the sides within about 6 minutes and pooled on the plate. I pressed it back up with a spatula. It looked exactly as bad as you’d imagine. Did something like this happen to you?

Also — and this is specific — I once used Dutch-process cocoa in the cake batter instead of natural unsweetened cocoa. The bake time ended up the same but the rise was noticeably flatter. If you swap cocoa types, the cake works, but the layers are shallower than you expect.

Things People Actually Ask

Can I use cherry jam instead of cherry juice in the icing? It depends on the jam — a loose, runny jam can work if you strain it first and use slightly less. But a thick jam makes the icing stiff and hard to spread, and it won’t thin back out easily. I tried this once with a very firm cherry preserve and ended up with something closer to a paste than a frosting. Stick to juice if you can.

Does the coffee taste actually come through in the cake? No. Not at all, even with a full cup of strong black coffee. What it does is make the chocolate flavor more forward and slightly less sweet. But no one will taste coffee. And if they think they do, they’re imagining it.

Can I make this as cupcakes? Yes. Fill liners about two-thirds full and bake at 350°F for about 20–22 minutes. The icing quantity in this recipe is enough for a generous top on about 18 cupcakes, maybe 20 if you’re conservative with the swirl. But check at 18 minutes — small ovens run hot.

What if I don’t have buttermilk? Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of regular milk, stir, and let it sit for 5 minutes. It won’t be identical — the acid is slightly different — but it works. I’ve done it in a pinch. The crumb is marginally less tight but the difference is small enough that most people wouldn’t notice.

Can the icing be made ahead? About 2 days ahead in the fridge, covered. Bring it back to room temperature and beat it again for about 2 minutes before using — it firms up significantly when cold and won’t spread without re-beating. And even after beating it back, it may be slightly stiffer than freshly made. That’s fine.

How do I know when the cake is actually done? Toothpick clean or with one dry crumb. Also, the center of the cake should feel set when you press it very lightly — it shouldn’t spring back immediately like a sponge, but it also shouldn’t feel wet or leave an indent. At 30 minutes I start checking every 2 minutes. The window between underdone and overdone in my oven is about 4 minutes total.

Which answer helped you most?

A Few Last Things Before You Start

This cake is not complicated, but it has enough steps that rushing any one of them usually shows up somewhere else. The cooling time is non-negotiable. The crumb coat is non-negotiable. Everything else has a little flexibility.

The cherry flavor in the icing is assertive — it’s meant to be. If you want it more subtle, reduce the cherry juice to ¼ cup and skip the liqueur. But then you’re really just making a chocolate buttercream with a faint fruit note, which is a different cake.

Will you make this soon?

I’ve made this five times now. The second time was the first good version. The fourth time was the best one — I have no specific reason for that, and I’m not sure I could replicate it exactly.

Fun fact: Cocoa powder loses potency over time — after about a year, it can taste noticeably flat and dusty. If your chocolate cakes have been tasting dull lately, check the date on the tin before assuming it’s your technique.

The fresh cherries on top are purely visual. They don’t add much flavor, and once the cake is sliced and refrigerated, they start to weep into the icing by the next day. Something to know going in.

Happy cooking! —Marina Caldwell