Surprisingly moist and soft, this 3-ingredient chocolate cherry cake is a crowd-pleaser. You’d be amazed how easy it is to make it too!
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Why you’ll love this recipe:
You only need 3 ingredients and 5 minutes of your time to make this cherry pie filling cake. And in return, you’ll get a surprisingly tall, moist, and soft chocolate cake studded with cherries. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.
- Perfect for a party or potluck
- Light and fluffy yet decadent
- Anyone can make it!
Now, I know we’re cheating here big time with a canned pie filling and a cake mix. But it’s SO worth it!
I stocked my pantry with a couple of cake mixes and canned pie fillings for “emergencies”. You know, when you have guests on short notice!
Cherry Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
- Eggs – Eggs provide structure, tenderness, and height to the cake. Without eggs, the cake would simply fall apart.
- Devil’s cake mix – Devil’s food cake is a dark and rich chocolate cake with a light and airy texture! There’s no need to follow the box directions.
- Cherry pie filling – For a sweet, cherry flavor with little to no effort! Cherry pie filling adds moisture and plenty of cherries.
How to make this chocolate cherry cake:
Before you start, preheat the oven to 350°F and spray 9×13 baking pan with a cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer for a minute or so, or until nice and fluffy.
- Add the chocolate cake mix and cherry pie filling, then mix it on low speed. This will keep the ingredients from flying outside the bowl. Increase the speed to medium, then beat until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate cake batter into the greased baking dish and use a spatula to spread it around evenly. Bake for 25 minutes or use the toothpick to test to see if it’s done.
- Cool completely on a wire rack inside the pan. Then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
To check the doneness:
Insert a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean without batter stuck to it, it’s ready!
Tips for Success:
- If you don’t have devil’s food cake mix, swap it out for another flavor! Vanilla, chocolate, yellow, and red velvet all taste great with cherries!
- Chocolate cherry cake makes amazing cupcakes! Instead of using a baking pan, scoop the batter into a cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners.
- For more decadent chocolate flavor, add 3/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter.
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free chocolate cake mix.
- Make sure to use cherry pie filling, not canned cherries! Canned cherries aren’t thick enough and the cake won’t set up.
- For easy clean-up, use a disposable foil pan in place of a glass or metal baking dish.
How to serve this easy cake:
This chocolate cherry cake is delicious either warm or cold.
- You can enjoy it warm, topped with vanilla ice cream, and chocolate ganache – HEAVEN!
- I also love serving it with chocolate fudge and maraschino cherries.
- You can also frost this cake with soft cream cheese frosting, recipe included. It complements the cake perfectly!
- Or eat it plain dusted with powdered sugar, or not. Less calories, but we don’t really care about calories around here, right? 😉
Make-Ahead 3-Ingredient Cake Tips:
- Since this chocolate cake with cherry filling lasts for three days in the refrigerator, it’s easy to make ahead! For best results, make it the day before you plan to serve it.
- Let the cake come to room temperature before serving or reheat in a 250 degree oven until warmed through – about 10 minutes.
- If you just want one slice, you can reheat it in the microwave in 15-second increments until warmed through. Don’t overheat or you will lose the soft texture of the cake.
Storing Tips:
- Store the cherry chocolate cake, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Too much cake for you to eat? No problem! Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. I like to freeze it in slices in a ziplock bag, this way you can enjoy one slice at a time!
How long is dump cake good for?
Dump cake is good for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, covered.
Chocolate Cherry Cake FAQ:
Yes! Simply use two greased 8-inch round cake pans in place of a 13×9 baking dish. Follow the recipe as directed! Use homemade or store-bought frosting to fill and assemble the layer cake.
The sweet and tart flavor of cherries complements dark chocolate exceptionally well, but any type of canned pie filling works! Blueberry, raspberry, or strawberry filling are all great options!
Yes! Pour two cans of cherry pie filling into the baking dish and top with the devil’s food cake mix. Drizzle 3/4 cup of melted butter on top and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Dump cakes are supposed to be dense, moist, and served with a spoon!
Other Easy Cake Recipes:
It doesn’t get much easier than this chocolate cake with cherry filling, but even scratch-made cakes can be simple!
Chocolate Cherry Cake
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 box Devil’s cake mix Note 1
- 1 can (21oz) cherry pie filling Note 2
Cream cheese frosting (optional):
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray 13×9-inch baking pan with a cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs for a minute until fluffy.
- Add chocolate cake mix and cherry pie filling, and continue to beat the mixture until smooth, starting on low speed and gradually increasing the speed to medium high.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cake on wire rack in the pan. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, and/or fudge sauce, if desired.
For cream cheese frosting:
- Whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Add sour cream, powdered sugar and almond extract and beat until smooth.
Tips & Notes
– Refrigerate the cherry chocolate cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
– Freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I like to freeze it in slices in a ziplock bag, this way you can enjoy one slice at a time!
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on August 17th, 2017.
Could you use this recipe for cupcakes?
Hi, Marissa. Yes, you can! I even shared muffin version here: https://www.sweetandsavorybyshinee.com/easy-chocolate-cherry-muffins/. Simply frost them with your favorite frosting, you’ll get a perfect cupcakes. 🙂
I followed this recipe exactly and it was so amazing! Very flavorful and so most that you can eat it even without frosting! ❤
Yay, so happy you loved the recipe, Marti. Thank you for your feedback.
What size cake mix did you use — the old 18.25 oz or the newer 15.25 oz?
I just love this cake. It’s almost like a sponge cake.Will have to try the yellow cake mix with apple pie filling.That sounds delicious.
Awesome! So happy you loved it, Teresa!
I made this for National Chocolate cake day today. When I make it again, I will mix cake mix with eggs first and then add cherry pie filling. Beating it all together at once chopped the cherries up pretty fine and I didn’t get the cherry flavor I had hoped for, unless I read directions wrong. Otherwise it was a great recipe.
Thank you, Ronda, for sharing your feedback and notes.
This sounds so delicious and I want to make it for my grandchildren. However my grandson is allergic to eggs. Would the cake come out all right if I used egg replacer? It’s a powder I mix with warm water, would so appreciate an answer from someone in the know! Thank you.
Hi, Laura. I have no experience with egg replacer and not sure if it’ll work in this recipe. If you’ve baked a cake with egg replacer before and it turns out good, then I’m sure it’ll work for this as well.
I made this with a yellow cake mix–all I had on hand. I added 1 tsp of almond extract to the mix, then topped it with sliced almond and turbinato sugar. Fluffy cake with a crunch.
Thank you so much for your feedback, EllenMarie! Slices almonds and turbinato sugar topping sounds amazing. I’ll try that next time.
Hi again. Tonight I made this cake recipe substituting a yellow cake mix for the chocolate mix. It baked beautifully. Then I used Cherry Buttercream Frosting on it.
I used a pan I received as a wedding gift 46 years ago not thinking of taking a picture. Oh well, I’m attaching pix of the cake. It was well received. I did put a teaspoon of almond extract on the cake as well. Thank you for your recipes.
Yay, so happy you’re enjoying the cake!!! Thank you for your feedback, Carol!
This is one of those recipes I call “simply ridiculous” because you can’t believe how good it is until you’ve tried it. Then when someone is raving over it (as my picky son did!) you simply say, “And the recipe is simply ridiculously easy.” Really, he was floored when I told him how I’d made it. Of course, I went to move the cake later and a huge piece was gone again and fudge sauce was half of what I had. Yes, your cake is divine and I thank you for a great recipe. I’m looking forward to trying other combinations. And I will be sharing this with my brother who is a cherry lover. I shall be watching for new recipes and looking over the site. Blessings to you. 🙂
Thank you so much, Carol! So happy you all enjoyed the cake, and you’re totally right. It’s simply ridiculous how easy it is and how delicious it turns out. 🙂 Thank you for your feedback.
Oh My ! I just tried this from a friend’s suggestion; however, I used yellow cake mix with apple pie filling.
It is just superb ! Also with whipped cream topping. Exceptional ! My friend said that you can used almost any cake mix and pie filling combination. A real thumbs up for the yellow and apple !!
Hi, Mary Ann. So glad your apple cake turned out great. And I totally agree, this works with pretty much with any cake mix and pie filling combination, or even canned fruit, like this pineapple cake with white cake mix and canned crushed pineapple. SOOO GOOD. Hope you’ll try more combinations. I’ll definitely be trying your version too. Thank you for your feedback!
Would this be a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple? And should it be drained? Love pineapple cake and this is too easy to pass up. Thanks!
Carol, yes, I used 20oz can. Here’s the recipe for you. Hope you love it as much as this chocolate cherry cake. 🙂
Can the cake be inverted and removed from the pan, or will it fall apart?
Yes, you can definitely invert it onto a platter, it shouldn’t fall apart.
This a wonderful cake. Have made it many times. A pinch of cinnamon might de good.
Hi, Karen! I’ll have to try adding cinnamon next time. Sounds real good. Thank you for your feedback!