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Cherry Dr Pepper cake is an incredibly moist chocolate cake with a creamy cherry icing and topped with bright red maraschino cherries and rich chocolate shavings. This yummy cake is super easy to make, with just six ingredients.
You might be surprised to see the addition of cherry Dr. Pepper soda in the ingredients of a cake, but this popular soda actually features in several of our easy recipes! Take a look at our Dr Pepper brownies and this awesome slow cooker Dr Pepper pulled pork.
MORE CAKE RECIPES:
Apple Dump Cake | Pumpkin Crunch Cake
CHERRY DR PEPPER CAKE INGREDIENTS
You will need:
For the Cake
- 1 box of Devil’s Food cake mix
- 1½ cups of Dr. Pepper Cherry
- 1 jar of maraschino cherries, 10 ounces
For the Frosting
- 1 cup (16 tablespoons) of butter, softened
- 3 cups of powdered sugar, plus ½ cup extra if needed
- ¼ cup of chocolate shavings
SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS
Dr Pepper Cherry Soda: Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper would also work well for this cake.
Chocolate Shavings: There’s no need for a store-bought container of chocolate shavings. It’s easy to make your own with a block of chocolate and a vegetable peeler.
Cake Mix: If you don’t have Devil’s food cake on hand you could use any box chocolate cake mix in this recipe.
HOW TO MAKE THIS CHERRY DR PEPPER CAKE RECIPE
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with baking spray.
STEP TWO: Take 15 cherries from the jar, remove the stems, and cut cherries into quarters. Leave the remaining cherries and the liquid in the jar as you’ll need these later.
PRO TIP: Wear gloves when cutting the cherries to avoid your fingers turning pink.
STEP THREE: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer on a low setting, combine the dry cake mix and the cherry Dr Pepper. Stir in the sliced cherries.
PRO TIP: The cake mix box will say to add eggs, water, milk or oil. We don’t need to do that as we’re using Dr Pepper instead with the dry mix.
STEP FOUR: Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 28 minutes.
STEP FIVE: Check to see if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake, it should come out clean.
STEP SIX: Set the cake aside and allow it to cool completely.
STEP SEVEN: Next, make the frosting. Using a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer on a medium setting, cream together the butter and the maraschino cherry juice from the jar.
STEP EIGHT: Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the three cups of powdered sugar, half a cup at a time.
PRO TIP: The homemade frosting should be firm, like canned frosting. If it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. Don’t make it so thick that it won’t spread.
STEP NINE: Using a spatula, spread the frosting evenly on top of the cake.
STEP TEN: Gently score the cake where you plan to slice it. Add a whole cherry, complete with stem, to the middle of each piece of cake.
PRO TIP: If you don’t have enough cherries, remove the stems, slice in half, and place a half cherry onto each piece instead.
STEP ELEVEN: If using store bought chocolate shavings sprinkle the shavings evenly over the top of the frosting. Or using a vegetable peeler and a chocolate bar, gently scrape down the sides of the chocolate to make the shavings.
STEP TWELVE: Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least half an hour to chill before serving.
HOW TO SERVE
This decadent dessert would be fantastic to serve for a potluck or birthday. Since it is so easy to make though, you could even throw it together for a weeknight dessert. For an extra indulgent treat, add a spoonful of whipped cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream to your cake. Add a refreshing cold drink such as our iced tea, raspberry iced tea, sweet peach iced tea, or our southern strawberry sweet tea on the side to wash it down.
STORAGE
IN THE FRIDGE: Cherry Dr Pepper cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
IN THE FREEZER: You can freeze this cherry chocolate cake for up to three months. Place it in the freezer while still in the baking dish for one to two hours to set the frosting. You can then transfer it to an airtight container or wrap it in plastic wrap. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
This chocolate Cherry Dr Pepper dump cake is so easy to make because it uses a box of cake mix rather than lots of separate ingredients. The rich cherry flavor makes it a fantastic cake to slice up and bring to a potluck, or you could even serve it as a birthday cake for someone special.
FAQ
If you can’t find Cherry Dr. Pepper, you can use Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. If you can’t find either, you can substitute Cherry Coke but the flavor will not be quite the same.
We don’t recommend using the diet version of cherry Dr. Pepper as it will change the flavor of the cake.
This cake is fine on the counter for up to 4 days.
There are a couple of reasons why your cake may come out dry. First, make sure that you follow the instructions exactly. If the ratio of ingredients is off at all, you could end up with a denser texture. Also, make sure you don’t over mix your cake batter as that can result in the cake coming out drier. Finally, make sure your oven temperture is correct. Oven temperatures sometimes are off from the dial, so make sure your oven isn’t hotter than you are expecting.
MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
Cherry Dr Pepper Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box Devil's Food chocolate cake mix dry
- 1 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper cherry
- 10 ounces maraschio cherries remove the stems from 15 of the cherries
Frosting
- 1 cup butter softened (16 tablespoons)
- 3 cup powdered sugar plus 1/2 cup extra if needed
- 1/4 cup chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with baking spray (Baker’s Joy or Wilton’s Bake-Ease)
- Remove the cherries from the jar, reserving the liquid in the jar to be used in making the cherry frosting. Remove the stems of 15 of the cherries, slice in half, then slice the halves in half again. Keep the remainder of the cherries in the jar with the stems on to garnish the tops of the frosted pieces of cake.
- Using a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer and a large mixing bowl, add the dry cake mix and the cherry Dr. Pepper. Mix on low until the dry cake mix and Dr. Pepper are just combined.
- Using a large spoon, stir in the sliced cherries.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 28 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Set the cake aside and allow the cake to cool completely.
- Using a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer and large mixing bowl, on medium speed. Cream together softened butter and reserved cherry juice, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the 3 cups of powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. This should be a firm frosting consistency, like canned frosting. If the frosting is thin, add up to 1/2 cup additional powdered sugar. Be careful to not make the frosting very thick that it will not spread easily.
- Spread the frosting evenly on top of the cake.
- Next, gently score the size of the serving pieces of cake.
- Place one of the reserved cherries with stems in the middle of each piece of cake. If the amount of stemmed cherries is less than the number of servings, remove the cherry stems and slice them in half and garnish the tops of the pieces of cake.
- To help the frosting set before cutting the individual pieces, place the cake in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- If using store bought chocolate shavings sprinkle the shavings evenly over the top of the frosting. Or using a vegetable peeler and a chocolate bar, gently scrape down the sides of the chocolate to make the shavings.
This is so yummy and fun!!!!