This mouthwatering Chocolate Cherry Cake features a moist chocolate cake with cherry pie filling folded right into the batter.
Chocolate and cherries are a classic flavor pairing I love. Inspired by a cake-mix version I found online, I developed a from-scratch Chocolate Cherry Cake that balances the rich chocolate with a can of cherry pie filling mixed into the batter for extra moisture and bright fruit flavor.
I began with a simple chocolate sheet cake formula, then reduced the liquid, fat, and sugar to account for the sweetness and moisture the cherry pie filling adds. The result is a tender, pudding-like batter that bakes into a wonderfully moist cake suitable as a snack cake or a dressed-up dessert.
How to Make Chocolate Cherry Cake
The method is straightforward: combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another, then fold them together into a smooth batter. The key difference is folding the cherry pie filling into the batter at the end. This adds both moisture and pockets of cherry throughout the cake, producing a tender crumb and a pleasant contrast between tart fruit and chocolate.
Chocolate Cherry Cake Ingredients:
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Cocoa powder
- Instant coffee powder
- Boiling water
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Canola oil
- Canned cherry pie filling
Chocolate Cherry Cake Frosting
This cake is delicious without frosting as a moist snack cake, but you can frost it to make it more celebratory. Cream cheese frosting is a lovely choice, balancing the richness of the chocolate and complementing the cherries. Chocolate or vanilla frostings also work well.
More Ideas Using Cherry Pie Filling
Nutrition Notes
This recipe can be made dairy-free by choosing dairy-free chocolate chips and omitting or substituting a dairy-free frosting. The cake itself contains eggs, so adjust ingredients for other dietary needs as required.
Chocolate Cherry Cake
Equipment
- Cake pan(s): one 9×13″ or two 8″–9″ round pans
Ingredients
- 3 oz semisweet chocolate chips (use dairy-free chips to make this dairy-free)
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp instant coffee powder
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp canola oil
- 21 oz can cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13″ pan or two 8″–9″ pans with vegetable oil and line the bottoms with parchment paper if desired.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water. Stir in the boiling water, cocoa powder, and instant coffee until smooth. Allow to cool slightly. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk the sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the chocolate mixture, then slowly whisk in the oil until the mixture is emulsified. Add half the flour mixture and gently whisk to combine, then add the second half. Stir in the cherry pie filling gently; do not overmix. The batter will be thick, like pudding.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan(s) and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 35–40 minutes for a 9×13″ pan (reduce time slightly for round pans). Rotate the pan halfway through baking for even browning.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Run a knife around the edges and invert onto a wire rack. Peel off parchment and frost if desired.
Nutrition
- Calories: 395 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 73 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Sodium: 621 mg
- Fiber: 4 g
- Sugar: 11 g
Notes
This cake can also be baked in two 9″ round cake pans and layered — reduce the baking time slightly when using round pans.
