Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting

Are these not the cutest?  Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting are so easy to make and pretty too!  A Christmas treat that’s perfect for sharing, but so delicious, you’ll want to keep them all for yourself!

I’m presently in love with glace cherries.  I seriously can’t get enough of them!  It all started last Christmas – or was it the Christmas before that? – and now it seems they’re all I can think about for the entire month of December.  It’s terrible really!  Sure, they’re sweet and delicious and colourful and cheerful, but good Lord, they’re basically fruit that has been dyed and turned into candy.  But, alas, Dear Reader, it’s Christmas and Christmastime is void of all calories.  You did know that, right?

So, with that in mind, I encourage you to try these Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting.  If you want, you can leave the frosting off completely.  If I were to do that, I would simply dust the top of the cake itself with confectioner’s sugar and serve it up.

This is certainly a recipe that lends itself to some person interpretation.  You can follow my recipe exactly and make them look just like I did, or, as I mentioned, you can skip the buttercream frosting part.  You can bake the cake in a round 9 inch pan rather than a square pan.  Then, you can slice the cake into wedges and serve it with a fresh cherry compote or a little bit of vanilla ice cream.

If you prefer, you can add in a few pecan or walnuts – about half a cup will do just fine.  This will add a little bit of crunch to the Cherry Cake Squares.  I was intending to add walnuts to this particular recipe, but I had used up all of my walnuts in my fruitcake.

Whatever you do, and however you serve it, I want you to know that Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting is not like an actual cake.  Let me explain.  In most cases, a cake is light and fluffy.  This cake, however, is a little on the dry side, but feels and tastes moist because of the cherries.  The outer edges of this cake have a wonderful texture; it’s chewy, yet crunchy.  It’s really hard to describe, but the texture and the taste works so well with the rest of the cake.  You really do get a sample of all textures with my Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting.

I’ve been having so much fun with my Christmas baking this year, but it’s not up to the level I want it to be in terms of posting to my blog.  You know, Dear Reader, how much I love Christmas and you can see for yourself my Christmas Recipe section.  This year though, time has been slipping away from me way too fast and I’ve not been able to catch up.

Usually, I  will start baking early – around the second week of November – so that I have at least two Christmas-themed recipes to post each week starting the last week of November all the way through to Christmas Eve.  But, not this year.  I somehow managed to catch a cold, which developed into bronchitis, which then developed into pneumonia.  So after two rounds of steroids and three rounds of antibiotics, I was on the mend.  Then, of course, as luck would have it, I caught a nasty flu bug which put me back in bed for 48 hours.  Then, that bug was passed on to John.e and McKenna.  It’s been basically six weeks of germs.  Gross!

So, I apologize for the lack of recipes this holiday season.  I’ll try my best to get another recipe or two posted before Christmas Eve.  And, if you need more holiday recipe inspiration, be sure to check out my Christmas recipe section as well.  Cheers!

3.37 from 11 votes

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Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting

Are these not the cutest? Cherry Cake Squares with Buttercream Frosting are so easy to make and pretty too! A Christmas treat that’s perfect for sharing, but so delicious, you’ll want to keep them all for yourself!

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings 16 squares

Calories 402kcal

Author Lord Byron’s Kitchen

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purposed unbleached flour
• 3/4 cup red glace cherries, halved
• 3/4 cup green glace cherries, halved

For the Frosting:

• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare a 9×9 inch pan by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Using a hand-held mixer, begin by creaming together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Next, add the eggs and mix together until light and fluffy.
• Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend into the wet mixture.
• Add the cherries and fold into the batter using a rubber spatula.
• This batter is thick, so carefully spread the batter into the pan. Be sure to keep the parchment paper in place.
• Bake for 50 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
• Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer cake to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
• To make the frosting, use a hand-held mixer to blend all of the frosting ingredients together. Spread liberally over the cooled cake.
• Refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting into squares.

Notes

If you’re having trouble finding red and green candied cherries, I highly recommend Paradise Fruit Company.  You can buy them online and they ship right to your door.  Here’s the link to their site: https://www.paradisefruitco.com/

Nutrition

Calories: 402kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 69mg | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 565IU | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 0.9mg