The Daily Balance

In case you haven’t noticed, I like to go all out for the holidays. Call it cheesy, sappy, whatever, I don’t care. It makes me happy and smile so wide I look like a jack-o-lantern, And that’s all that matters.

That being said, I wasn’t about to half ass it with out Valentine’s Day dessert (especially after our amazing dinner!). No siree. Instead, I decided to tackle a two-layer cherry almond cake with buttercream frosting. All made from scratch.

You’ll need:

For the cake

• 1 box of white cake mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 can of cherry filing (I used a light version- hey, I do what I can!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix everything except the cherry filling. Add 3/4 of the cherry filling and mix. Fold in remaining cherry filling. Pour into two loaf pans (or one cake pan if you are making a single layer cake) and bake for 50 minutes- 1 hour.

Let cake cool completely and remove from pan.

To make a mini two-layer cake, I only used the cake from one loaf pan. I cut it in half and used each half for one of the layers.

But before we can get to layering, we need the ‘mortar’ to keep the together! ie FROSTING!

You’ll need:

• 1 pound box of confectioner’s sugar
• 1 cup (2 stacks) of butta (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2-4 tablespoons of milk

First, beat the butter and almond extracts until softened. Next, slowly add the sugar. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until frosting reaches desired consistency (I added 4). Finally, add some food coloring to create a fun color! I added red to create PINK frosting, of course!

Now the fun begins! Top the first half of the cake with frosting and spread evenly. Set the other half on top.

Spread with the remaining frosting and decorate with slivered almonds.

Don’t worry about making it look perfect, it’ll be delish no matter what

With the remaining cake, I made some treats for my mom and dad.

This was NOT healthy by any means. But it was delicious…and the perfect way to indulge with my sweetie on Valentine’s Day.

In all honestly, this cake was SPECTACULAR. The frosting was out-of-this-world — and rivaled my favorite!

The mixed in cherries made the cake super moist and the flavor combination of the cherry and almond were perfect.

Make this!!!

15 Responses to “Daily Delish – A sweet ending”

1. Heather (Heather's Dish) said:

   this is SO CUTE! what a fabulous idea with making little squares!

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 2:16 pm | Reply
2. La said:

   I’m obsessed with any dessert that includes doctoring a boxed mix – they’re kind of boring on their own usually but totally lend themselves to a million different variations! I like to play around with brownie mixes.

   LOVE the little pink cakes – so appropriate!!

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 2:35 pm | Reply
3. Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg said:

   That is just lovely!

   And I like to go all out for holidays too…it’s one of the things I’m really looking forward to about having kids!

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 2:59 pm | Reply
4. Shelley said:

   that looks like such an amazing cake! /i love that it is pink <3

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 3:30 pm | Reply
5. Lauren said:

   The cake looks delish, and I like the idea of cutting one cake in half to make a mini layer cake. So cute!

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 3:45 pm | Reply
6. Morgan @ Healthy Happy Place said:

   omg that looks awesome. I love cherry + almond. You said you used cherry filling.. do you mean cherry pie filling? Or another kind?

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 3:51 pm | Reply
7. Leena said:

   that cake is so cute! and it sounds so delicious… i’m a sucker for cherry flavored anything.. i love adding cherry pie filling to chocolate cake mix too.. sooo gooood.

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 5:23 pm | Reply
8. Brittany said:

   I like to go ALL out on the holidays too! I drive my hubs a tad bit crazy!

   Your cake looks so good!

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 6:05 pm | Reply
9. K said:

   That cake looks great!! When it comes to foods on holidays it has to be the real deal, butter & sugar included

   Posted on February 15, 2010 at 7:45 pm | Reply
10. Jessica @ The Process of Healing said:

    Gosh that looks delicious girl!!! I love love LOVE cakes!!! SOmetimes you just have to go for it

    Posted on February 15, 2010 at 8:27 pm | Reply
11. monicaonthego.com said:

    Beautiful! Nicely done!

    Posted on February 15, 2010 at 9:25 pm | Reply
12. Amy @ Second City Randomness said:

    That cake looks wonderful! I like to go all out on the holidays as well (hence the Mardi Gras cupcakes). It’s the little things in life, right?

    Posted on February 15, 2010 at 10:55 pm | Reply
13. Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com said:

    Your cake is so cute and festive! Can you send me a piece? I’m the same way with holidays- the more over the top the better!!

    Posted on February 16, 2010 at 1:04 am | Reply
14. CaSaundra said:

    Yummy! I always use sugar free cherry pie filling because I usually use it with a sugar-laden dessert so it doesn’t make a big difference.

    Posted on February 16, 2010 at 10:22 am | Reply
15. Fallon said:

    hehe gotta love the super sweet treats!

    Posted on February 16, 2010 at 2:17 pm | Reply