Cherry Chip Cake.....ahhhh childhood memories!

     When I was a kiddo my Mom would always let me pick out the "flavor" of my birthday cake. We would stand in the cake mix aisle and I would survey all of the boxes. I'm pretty sure there were very few years that I didn't pick cherry chip. It was a white or yellow cake with little pink flecks of "cherry" in the mix. I LOVED it. Mom then decorated my cakes. She would let me pick out a character pan like Strawberry Shortcake or a Care Bear. One year I even had E.T.  (am I giving away my age with these characters?) She then spent hours making icing and making my cake look amazing. After going gluten free there was no longer a cherry chip cake for me. (sad face) Until now!!
     I found a recipe on Pinterest (yes I do believe that Pinterest is my own personal muse for my recipes). It inspired me to give it a whirl and attempt the gluten free cherry chip cake. Just wait until Mom hears there is a gluten free cherry chip cake!! ha
    Oh and P.S. this recipe isn't healthy....it has butter, cream cheese and red food dye ha So if any of that turns you off.....sorry!

Cherry Chip Cake- Gluten Free

2 ¼ cups gluten free flour mix, use divided*
1 teaspoon Xantham Gum
½  salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ cups  sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cherry extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup maraschino cherries, drained (juice reserved), chopped and dried

Glaze:
1½ cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons reserved maraschino cherry juice
1 tsp. Cherry Extract
1 -2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 10 inch bundt pan well with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, the baking powder and the salt until well combined.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar, butter, cream cheese and extracts together on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mix just until combined. Combine the cherries with the remaining ¼ cup flour and toss to coat. Add the cherries and flour to the batter and fold in with a spatula. Slowly put the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 1 hour 20 – 30 minutes or until the cake is lightly browned, springy to the touch and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Combine the confectioner’s sugar with the maraschino cherry juice. Add the milk, a little at a time until it reaches a thick but pour able consistency. Spoon the glaze over the cooled cake.

In order to get the cherries dry, I lined a container with a paper towel and used a fork to remove them from the jar. I put them in the towel lined dish to dry.

Cut the cherries into small chunks. I tried using my magic bullet at first, but it only pulverized them. The pearing knife did a much better job with this task!

For some reason I thought this was a cool picture of the sugar on the mixer's beater.

Mix Mix Mix

The batter was super thick.........

Fold in the cherry pieces with a spatula.

Put the batter into the well greased bundt pan. Smooth the top of the batter with your spatula.

Getting excited....it looks yummy!! Now to wait for it to cool! UGH

Now for a little cherry glaze

I just love pink stuff!! Even icing...

YUM!

Awww my piece is getting smaller!

I realized while making this recipe that marachino cherry juice is one of the stickiest things on the Earth!! I spilled a little on the counter, wiped it up, and the sticky didn't go away. However, I will deal with it because this recipe is amazing. I'm going to need to pass out pieces of cake to get this out of the house before I eat it all.

-Jessica