This Cherry Sheet Cake has a gorgeous color and is bursting with cherry flavor. It’s covered in an almond-flavored cream cheese icing. So delicious for Valentine’s Day or a potluck.

Slice of Cherry Sheet Cake topped with a cherry on a plate.

The icing is a wonderful mixture of butter and cream cheese with a little almond extract. The cream cheese flavor isn’t overpowering in this light and luscious frosting.

How To Make Cherry Sheet Cake

First you’ll combine your wet ingredients (milk, cherry juice, and vanilla) in a measuring cup.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer.

Cherry Sheet Cake

With the mixer on LOW, add the shortening and half the milk mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to get everything evenly mixed. Next add the remaining milk mixture and the egg whites. Beat on LOW for 2 minutes.

Fold in the cherries and the pecans. Transfer the batter to a 9×13-inch pan sprayed with baking spray. Bake for about 30 minutes.

You can leave the pecans out but I love the buttery crunch they add.

Cherry Cake baked in a 9x13-inch pan

Recipe Tips

It’s really important to sift cake flour. Cake flour is very fine and gets packed down and clumped together in the box. Sift some cake flour into a bowl and then measure out 2 1/2 cups for the recipe. Then you are going to sift it together with the dry ingredients. If you skip pre-sifting, you will measure out too much flour and have a dry cake.

Cherry Almond Sheet Cake

More Cherry Desserts

Cherry Sheet Cake

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 28 minutes
Servings: 12
This Cherry Sheet Cake has a gorgeous color and is bursting with cherry flavor. It's covered in an almond-flavored cream cheese icing. So delicious for Valentine's Day or a potluck.

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Ingredients

Batter

  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 22 finely chopped maraschino cherries
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Frosting

  • 4 ounces cream cheese,, softened
  • 4 tablespoons butter,, softened
  • 2 tablespoons milk or cream
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • maraschino cherries for garnish

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13-inch pan with baking spray with flour.
  • Combine milk, cherry juice, and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Set aside.
  • Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Add shortening and half the milk mixture and beat at low speed using the whisk attachment for 2 minutes.
    Note: Or you can use a hand-held mixer.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add remaining milk mixture and egg whites and beat on low speed for 2 more minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  • Fold in the cherries and pecans and transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
    Let cool before frosting.
  • To make the icing, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add milk and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time and then the almond extract. Beat really well and then spread on cake.
  • Place cherries on top for garnish.

Notes

Be sure to sift the cake flour into a bowl before you measure it to get an accurate measurement. Cake flour tends to clump together and if you do not sift before you measure, you will end up with too much flour and your cake will be dry.

Nutrition

Calories: 513kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Cherry Almond Sheet Cake

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1 Comment

  1. Susan Chipman says:

    This is called a sheet cake so I was thinking it would be made on a 12×17 jelly roll pan but it say 9×13 but the cake looks thinner like it was in a jelly roll pan. Can you make this cake in a jelly roll pan- or even a small jelly roll pan between the 9×13 and 12x 17 size? I just wondered if you’ve done this and what the cooking time adjustments would be or if you’d need to adjust other processes. Making for a fundraiser. thanks