Cherry Dr Pepper Cake + Video
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Outrageous Cherry Dr Pepper Cake is an incredibly flavorful cherry chocolate cake recipe with just 5 ingredients that will blow your mind!
Do cherries make you think of summer?
I am not sure what the connection is, but bright red cherries automatically bring my mind to summer, and that is exactly what I was thinking when I picked up some cherry Dr. Pepper soda.
I knew right away I wanted to make a delicious treat it. I mean really isn’t that the best idea ever? We love dump cakes, so I decided to give it a try, but kick it up a notch.
Want cookies instead, we have that covered with our delicious cherry cheesecake cookies.
Cherry Dr Pepper Cake
The rich, decadent and perfectly tender chocolate cake melts in your mouth. Topped with homemade maraschino cherry frosting, it is truly a flavor explosion.
Not only that, but it’s ready to toss in the oven in a flash.
Honestly, I don’t usually make dump cakes, but sometimes you just really need an easy recipe that will impress a crowd. Dr. Pepper cake is all that, and more!
This recipe is very similar to a dump cake, because making Dr Pepper cake with cake mix takes just 5 ingredients.
Everything is dumped together for easy mixing, yet it is perhaps the best tasting cake ever!
Truly a mouthwatering dessert, now please excuse me while I take a moment to gather my thoughts. All I can think about is this cherry chocolate cake. {{slurp}}
If you love chocolate and cherry desserts, you’ll probably want to make our recipe for chocolate cherry tiramisu, too. It’s one of our favorite Valentine desserts.
Recipe Tips
You know, bold flavors are kinda part of who I am, so I added the Dr Pepper Cherry soda and maraschino cherries to the cake mix and then made a super easy maraschino cherry buttercream to go on top.
All with just 5 ingredients. This cake is truly outrageous. Rich, moist and loaded with your favorite flavors. Oh my word! I tell you this cake tastes just like summer.
- I know people love diet soda, but this is not the place for it.
- You can substitute Cherry Coke if you prefer, but the Cherry Dr Pepper gives it an amazing flavor.
- To avoid pink fingers, wear kitchen gloves when working with the cherries.
Storing Dr Pepper Cake
The cherry chocolate cake keeps for about 3-4 days on the kitchen counter. Be sure to keep it wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, especially during the summer.
If your kitchen tends to be warm, store it in the refrigerator to keep the frosting from melting.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Chocolate Desserts
Cherry Dr Pepper Cake + Video
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce box super moist chocolate fudge cake mix, dry
- 12 ounces Dr. Pepper Cherry, room temperature
- 18 ounces maraschino cherries, divided
- 1 cup salted butter
- 7 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13x2 baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine cake mix and soda. Whisk until combined. Set aside.
- Remove 24 cherries from the jar, remove stems and cut cherries into fourths. Add cut cherries to cake batter. Whisk again until combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth with a spatula so the cake is even.
- Place the cake in the center of the oven and bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Meanwhile: Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or place in a large bowl and use and hand mixer).
- Beat butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add sugar 1 cup at a time until it is all incorporated (beating between each addition).
- Add 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) maraschino cherry juice from the jar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Frost the cake with all of the icing and garnish with remaining cherries.
Video
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published June 2015. Updated and republished June 2022.
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7 cups of powdered sugar is way to much for this recipe, I'd say
4 cups would be plenty, also
1 sick of butter = 1/2 cup
I'm gonna make my buttercream frosting and put cherries in it
But I'll use unsalted butter
I'm gonna add a cup of cherry Dr pepper cause that sounds like it will be real thin so we will see
can you sub fresh cherries for the maraschino? will it still have a nice sweet flavor? thanks!
Has anyone made the frosting with cream cheese instead of butter?
what if you just like the cherry flavor but not the cherry can you leave out the cut up cherries in the cake and it still be as good
I do not like to cook but needed a quick cake for an event. I did not add the cherries to the mix and it did come out a little dry. I also did not make my own frosting. I added the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries with a can of white buttercream frosting. It ended up being a hit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
We are happy to hear it was enjoyed!
Has anyone made this as a two layer cake? I love the looks of two layers. Wondering if it is too moist to make in layers..Anyone?
I’m currently trying that. I’ll keep you updated.
With my family's experience on cakes, two layers no matter the softness, as long as you flour and oil to grease the sides, and take it out after ten minutes of cooling, use a knife or a silicon spatula(thick one)to unstick the sides from the pan before the flip, ya should be good to go on stacking it.
Everything seemed good but it did turn out super watery. Is it because the soda was a bit cold? Or what could have caused it?
Either soda too cold, or ya made have added unintentionally to much cherry juice with the cherries, or the cherries had too much juice in them. Make sure their well drained and after cutting strain them again if not leave them sit for a few minutes to get that extra juice out of them.
How does the cake raise without the ingredients the box calls for and is it two cups of butter
The ingredients used to rise the cake are already in the dry mix.
It rose perfectly…but the cake was super crumbly and did not hold together. I am convinced that leaving out the eggs and oil caused the cake to fail to bind together. Next time I am going to follow the box instructions but just substitute the Cherry Dr. Pepper for the water called for.
And I cut the frosting recipe in half and had just the right amount. I want more cake than frosting not the other way around. And I will reduce the amount of powdered sugar some so the frosting is less sweet.
It is two sticks of butter, not two cups.
I found the cake to be very moist but super crumbly if that makes sense. It was more icing than cake. Flavor was good.
I forgot to pick up powdered sugar but had buttercream icing on hand. I Mixed the buttercream with cherry juice- it was a hit!!!
I made this tonight but it didn't cook all the way. I even cooked it another 20 minutes. Any suggestions.
My fiancé really wants me to make this for him as it has his 3 favorite things: Dr Pepper, cherries, & chocolate. I was wondering if it’s possible to make it with a scratch recipe instead of a mix, and, if so, how would I do it?
This was wonderful! Made it for my son's birthday. The directions are clear and easy to follow if you can read. Thank you so much for sharing, and the video is great too!
I made it for a church fundraiser on Saturday; it was good, but fell apart when we cut it.
Would it be ok to make and frost for the next day? Or would it be better to frost the day I need it? Thanks
My husband requested I make this for his birthday and so it is baking as we speak. I can't wait for the final results. I'll post later to let you know how it went.
Is it absolutely required for the soda to be room temp?
I only have refrigerated cans on hand.
Umm….take one can out of the refrigerator one hour before you make the cake and set it on a counter….problem solved
Have it saved as a PDF file. Will be making this in the near future.
I am the daughter of an executive chef and have eaten many wedding cakes and other sweets. This is easy, inexpensive and so yummy. Follow the instructions to a t and you can’t go wrong. I’m not a baker and it turned out perfect. I baked in a Pyrex bowl and put pieces together to make a ball and decorated with red icing Happy Birthday as Dr. Pepper logo. The cake was heavy and moist. The icing delicious. This is one of the best cakes I’ve ever had and so cheap to make if your on a budget. So glad I found it. It will be a hit whatever the occasion. ❤️ it! Thank you!!
Has anyone tried Vanilla Cherry Coke? I can’t seem to find regular Cherry Coke or Pepsi in my region (Ontario, Canada)
No eggs for this cake?
Just made this cake and it's soooooo good. Some minor changes I did were only 4 cups powdered sugar to the 1 cup butter and 4 tbsp cherry juice. I also folded in 1 8oz bowl of cool whip. Made the frosting oh so light and dreamy. 🙂
Has anyone made cup cakes? That’s what I’m trying.
Wheres the revipe video?? All I get are advertisements.
Terry, the recipe video is located in the recipe card itself, just beneath the instructions.
TSRI Team member,
Becca
Wow, very good cake. I was not expecting a cake with Dr. Pepper in it to be so delicious. The cherry flavor is wonderful.
Hi Trisha,
We are happy you enjoyed it!
This was such an awesome cake! Dr pepper was for sure the best choice to contrast the cherry. It was rich and delectable.