Pink Sprinkle Cake with Maraschino Cherries

Okay, so this isn't a recipe share today, so I'm definitely cheating a little bit. But this little sweet cake is totally worth it.  

At my church, every year, the young men host a cake auction to raise money for the scouts. Members of the church voluntarily donate a cake for everyone to bid on, and in return the scouts provide a big spaghetti & meatball dinner. It was delicious, and we all had a blast watching our friends bid on all the unique and tasty cakes. 

For that evening, I thought it would be fun to bring two small cakes (2 x 6" layers). I was a little nervous to bring them (I'd never been to one of these cake auction nights before, and didn't know what kind of cakes I was setting my cakes up against for auction!). There were so many beautiful and creative cakes. There was even a 3-tier fondant BYU football cake with a fondant helmet on top. It was amazing! I loved seeing all the cakes lined up and hearing all the high bids to take them home.

My cakes did better than I expected, and I was so grateful my husband didn't have to bid on them to save me from hiding under the table. Now that I think about it, I kind of wish he did bid on them! They were loaded with some of my favorite flavors, and I wanted to taste the finished product so badly. Alas, the scouts needed the $$$, the cakes were auctioned away, and we were still able to come home with a darling little "pizza" cake made by one of my darling primary kids. It was yummy! 

So, this and next Friday, I'm going to share how I made the cakes I took to the auction! I wish, wish, wish, I could have gotten a photo of them sliced open, but I knew I'd probably have to outbid everyone else to get the photo (combined they went for over $120!). People must have been really really hungry for cake, eh?

Let's jump into this darling little beauty... 

The inside of this cake was straight up white cake with a handful of marishinos dotted throughout. I love using Your Cup of Cake's white cake recipe, and adapted it for a cake (instead of cupcakes) by adjusting the temperatures and baking time. It always comes out so moist and fluffy, and the cake actually stays white (instead of toasted brown on the outside). It's lovely, and I knew it'd be a light little base for the frosting. 

Oh, that frosting... 

It's amazing. I discovered it a long time ago, and have used it ever since for fun occasions. It's Cherry Almond Buttercream, and uses the juices from the maraschino cherry jar, and a touch of almond extract. It's so dreamy, and was the perfect compliment to the fluffy white cake on the inside. When the frosting was still wet, I decided to add on a bottom layer of colored rainbow nonpareils. I didn't want to cover up the side of the cake, but just have a little subtle sprinkle along the bottom, with a just a few trickling upwards. 

Originally, I was going to have the frosting swirls on the top be the same frosting as the rest of the cake. But I wanted the colors to pop, and for it to have a "banana split" kind of top to it. So I whipped up a quick batch of Classic Vanilla Buttercream, and swirled them as high as I dared. To top it all off, I placed some stem-on cherries. I LOVE CHERRY STEMS. They add the most beautiful height to a little cake. It makes everything so whimsical and makes me feel like I'm a little girl in a magical bakery somewhere. Also, it tied in the whole maraschino flavor theme I chose for this cake.

A quick tip about topping your cakes with cherries from the jar. They drip. They've been soaked in that crazy juice for some time, and won't give up easily. I usually drain them (saving the juices for the frosting) on a red towel (not white, the red color stains immediatly) for about 30 minutes or so, rotating them every 10 minutes, until they are still juicy, but aren't dripping anymore. I knew putting red cherries on white frosting would be a gamble, so draining/drying was definitely a must! 

A father in the ward bid for this cake like a crazy man for his daughter. It was super-darling, and I hope they enjoyed it. :) 

Until next Friday, when I'll be sharing my grasshopper (mint & chocolate) cake. I definitely envied our friends who were able to take it home! SO yummy!