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–+ servings

Cherry Frosting Cake Jars

These have to be my new favorite way to eat cake! Perfectly portioned for an individual (okay, they're kinda large, but who actually wants a small slice of cake), these are such a cute way to make cake for guests, for picnics, for beach days or date nights! Think layers of vanilla cake, cherry syrup and cherry buttercream frosting for the best Summery cake bite! The cake jars make use of my Easy Homemade Cherry Syrup, but in the recipe I'll lay out some options if you don't feel like making syrup!
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Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 2 (16 oz Jars)
Author: Florence Jackson

Ingredients

For the Cake (OR use box mix yellow cake)

  • 200 g (1 ½ cups) All Purpose Flour
  • 200 g (1 cups) White Sugar
  • 180 g (13 tbsp) Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
  • 3 (3) Large Eggs
  • 1 ½ tsp (1.5 tsp) Baking Powder
  • 60 ml (4 tbsp) Heavy Cream
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Homemade Cherry Syrup (Optional)

  • 300 g (3 cups) Fresh Cherries Pitted and Halved
  • 100 g (½ cups) Sugar
  • 240 ml (1 cups) Water

For the Cherry Buttercream Frosting

  • 112 g (½ cups) Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
  • 350 g (3 cups) Powdered Sugar
  • 3 tbsp (3 tbsp) Cherry Syrup or Cherry Jam

Additional (Optional, for layers)

  • Cherry Jam or remaining cherries from syrup

Instructions

For the Cake

  • NOTE: While the cake is baking, this gives a good time to make the syrup, if using!
  • Preheat the oven to 350℉/180℃ Fan. Grease/Line 2 x 8 inch round cake pans (the cakes will be fairly thin but that's what we want!)
  • In a large bowl/bowl of a stand mixer, add all the cake ingredients and combine until smooth. If very stiff, add a little more cream. 
  • Pour the cake batter into the lined pan. Bake for 23-25 minutes, until a cake tester or knife pushed into the cakes come out clean (just crumbs, no batter). Let cool.

For the Cherry Syrup (if making)

  • Pit and slice cherries in half. Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer (low heat) and let cook for 30 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and use a wooden spoon or similar to crush the cherries in the pot, really getting as much juice out as possible!
  • Pour the contents of the saucepan into a sieve (sitting above a wide bowl). Then pour the liquid into a jar and the cherries in a separate container. We will use both for the cake jars!

For the Cherry Buttercream Frosting

  • Add the butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a whisk on high for a minute to soften.
  • Add half the powdered sugar, whisk on high. Then add the remaining half with the cherry jam OR cherry syrup and whisk everything on high until fluffy. Add powdered sugar/milk as required to meet your desired consistency.

To Assemble

  • Using 16oz jars or similar - whatever you have is fine - cut slices of the cooled cake using the mouth of the jar. Feel free to cut in half to create thinner pieces of cake.
  • Layer up: place a layer of cake, then cherry syrup, then the cherry 'jam' (either store bought, or if you made syrup, use the remaining jammy cherries here), then pipe on the buttercream frosting. Repeat until the jars are full!
  • Finish by adding a whole cherry with the stem, shaved chocolate or anything else you like!