This cherry chocolate bundt cake is genuinely one of the best bundt cakes I’ve ever eaten. The crumb is soft with an ever-so-slightly fudgy texture. This is thanks to my go-to base chocolate cake recipe which stays rich without being heavy. It’s the kind of cake that feels both comforting and a little bit special.
Maraschino cherries are folded right into the batter and end up settling at what becomes the top of the bundt cake. Using the cherry syrup to make the icing – and drizzling extra over each slice when serving – ties everything together with the most irresistible chocolate and cherry flavour! 🍒
You can see this base chocolate cake in action in my Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Icing and Blueberry Chocolate Cake.
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❤️ Why you’ll love it
- Rich chocolate and sweet, tart cherry flavours are the perfect combination.
- Incredibly soft, moist crumb with a lightly fudgy texture.
- Quick and easy to make with simple ingredients.
- No fancy equipment. Just mixing bowls and a bundt tin will get it done.
- Ideal for celebrations (like Mothers Day, Easter, Christmas), parties or an elegant dessert.
Ingredients & substitutions
With just very basic ingredients, this chocolate cherry bundt cake is simple enough to make any time a craving hits.
Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
- Maraschino cherries: These are great as they’re pitted and stored in a delicious syrup and they’re shelf stable meaning you can make this cake any time. You could however use fresh cherries too or other types of jarred cherries.
- Flour: Just regular plain flour / all purpose flour.
- Dutch cocoa powder: Dutched cocoa powder gives this a gorgeous dark colour and rich flavour.
- Coffee granules: This cake doesn’t taste like coffee but the coffee does intensify the chocolate flavour. If you really don’t want to add it, still use the water that it is dissolved in. You can use caffeineted or decaf coffee granules. If using espresso powder or coffee powder, cut the amount in half.
- Butter: Unsalted is best. If you use salted butter, reduce the additional salt called for in the recipe to a pinch.
- Baking soda and baking powder: This cake uses both baking powder and baking soda for the perfect rise but don’t get the quantities confused as they give a different result.
- Buttermilk: This is the secret to the moist texture of this mararschino cherry chocolate cake
How to make cherry chocolate bundt cake
This cherry bundt cake is super quick and easy but looks like it took forever!
Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
1. The dry ingredients
Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (sifting the cocoa powder to remove lumps).
2. The wet ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
3. Combine them
Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
4. Bake
Pour the mixture into a large greased bundt tin, adding the cherries at the end and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. The cherry icing
The cherry icing is a simple mixture of icing sugar (powdered sugar) and the saved maraschino cherry syrup. Just mix them together once the cake has cooled and drizzle it over.
Tips and tricks
- You can use any shape bundt pan.
- You must grease your bundt pan very generously and make sure to get into all the grooves and corners so that the cake doesn’t stick.
- The toothpick must come out clean which is different to my normal suggestion of a toothpick coming out with a few crumbs attached. That’s because if you undercook this cake, you’ll have more difficulty getting it out of the bundt pan cleanly.
- Don’t make the icing too runny or it will run straight off your cake.
Storage
Room temperature or fridge
You should store the cherry chocolate bundt cake at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for 4-5 days, in an airtight container.
Freezer
This maraschino cherry chocolate cake freezes beautifully as well. Cut it into slices so you can thaw just as much as you need. Freeze them on a baking sheet that’s been lined with baking paper. Once solid, transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Variations
This easy cherry chocolate bundt cake can be customised too.
- Don’t like maraschino cherries? No problem. Swap them for fresh cherries or other jarred varieties.
- Other fruit: Swap the cherries for blueberries or leave all the fruit out of the cake batter and top the cake with raspberries or strawberries instead.
- All chocolate: Leave out the cherries and top the chocolate bundt cake with chocolate ganache instead.
More recipes you’ll love
You’ll love these similar recipes too, all loaded with cherries!
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Ingredients
- 1 small jar maraschino cherries (225g / 8oz)
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in ¾ cup (180ml) hot water (375ml)
- 335 g white granulated sugar (2 ⅔ cups / 11 ¾oz)
- 260 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (2 cups / ~9 ¼oz)
- 70 g Dutch process cocoa powder (⅔ cup / ~2 ½oz)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarb soda)
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 115 g unsalted butter melted (½ cup)
- 1 cup buttermilk room temp (250ml)
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large bundt pan any shape
Instructions
- THE CHOCOLATE CHERRY BUNDT CAKE:Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a bundt pan making sure to get right into all the nooks and crannies.
- Reserve the liquid from the maraschino cherries and set aside. Remove and discard the stems, then roughly chop the cherries. Set aside.1 small jar maraschino cherries
- Dissolve the coffee in the hot water and set aside.1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in ¾ cup hot water.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk with a balloon whisk to combine.335 g white granulated sugar, 260 g plain flour (all purpose flour), 70 g Dutch process cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarb soda), 1 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a medium mixing bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Add the coffee mixture, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.115 g unsalted butter melted, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan then scatter over the chopped cherries.
- Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake it.
- Let the cake cool for 20 minutes then invert the pan onto a cooling rack. It should fall out fine.
- THE CHERRY ICING: Let the cake cool completely before icing.Combine the icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of the reserved cherry syrup and whisk to combine. Continue adding the syrup just a little at a time until you have a thick but pourable consistency.1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- Drizzle the icing over the cake then cut into slices, drizzling a little of the reserved syrup over each slice before serving.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- All ovens vary. Check for doneness at least 3 minutes before the recipe suggests.
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2 Comments on “Cherry Chocolate Bundt Cake”
Hi, this sounds AMAZING and I will be trying it soon but I was wondering, you said fresh cherries could be used so where would you get juice from to make the icing?
Hi Kimberly. You could just puree some cherries and push the puree through a strainer before using it. The other option is to make this fresh cherry sauce. You could use this in place of the icing or use the syrup from it for the icing and use the cherries in the cake (that might be a messy job to chop them up though).