This Cherry Amaretto Bundt Cake features TWO jars of maraschino cherries, a strong splash of maraschino cherry juice, and a heavy pour of amaretto. This cake is so moist, soft, and rich. The cherry-amaretto glaze on top seeps and soaks into every nook and cranny!
First of all, it must be patently obvious that I love bundt cakes. I recently put together a round-up of 25 Easy Bundt Cake Recipes, and I made sure to include only truly, truly easy ones. I have about a dozen on the blog, but I also researched a bunch of fabulous and easy bundt cake recipes from other sources, so that it’s an exceptional collection of recipes.
Most of my bundt cake recipes were born out of my Grandma’s Pistachio Bread. That pistachio bread recipe is really more like cake. More specifically, like a coffee cake crossed with a bundt cake. Either way, the basic recipe from Grandma’s Pistachio Bread produces a perfect bundt.
Since that discovery, I’ve definitely capitalized on it. I love my basic bundt. It’s a cake mix bundt cake recipe that produces a super soft, ultra-moist, dense, and rich cake. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s my tried-and-true, over and over again.
This Cherry Amaretto Bundt Cake is brilliantly easy. You can whip it up in one bowl, and you don’t need a mixer. The glaze requires a second small bowl and a whisk, that’s it! Easy peasy.
Over the holidays, I went craaaazy with boozy baked goods. I made this Whiskey Walnut Spice Cake that is absolutely killer, and a Buttered Rum Date Cake that is also to-die-for. Those are very Christmasy, but I can be in the mood for those beauties anytime. Like right. this. second, for example.
Now that we’re almost into summer, I feel the urge again to spike my cakes and cupcakes and pies and stuff. I feel that urge year-round, truth be told, but the type of liquor changes. 🙂 Anyhoo, this Cherry Amaretto Bundt Cake is your summer delight!
This Cherry Amaretto Bundt Cake features TWO jars of maraschino cherries, a strong splash of maraschino cherry juice, and a heavy pour of amaretto. I boosted those further with cherry extract and almond extract, and both the extracts together are a fine bolster to the core flavors.
The glaze on top mirrors the ingredients in the cake! You betcha – more maraschino cherry juice and amaretto. I like to add melted butter to boozy glazes so that they’re warm and thin, and they can soak and seep into the crevices of the cake. I also like adding melted butter because as the glaze cools, it sets nicely. So good.
I am a big-time fan of cherry and almond together, so this Cherry Amaretto Bundt Cake is a total win. If you are into them too, this is a must-try recipe. Or if you just like cake. Or dessert. Or anything sweet. It’s must-try.
Cherry Amaretto Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For cake:
- 2 - 10 oz. jars maraschino cherries drained, reserve juice
- 1 box white or yellow cake mix
- 1 - 3.4 oz. box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 1/2 c. amaretto
- 1/2 c. maraschino cherry juice
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 1 tsp. cherry extract I find this easily at Walmart Supercenters - Watkins brand
For glaze:
- 4 tbsp. butter melted
- 1/4 c. amaretto
- 3 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
- about 2 c. powdered sugar
Instructions
For cake:
- Roughly chop the maraschino cherries.
- Using paper towels, pat the maraschino cherries very dry. I used the paper towels to actually squeeze the chopped cherries of some juice.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, pudding mix, vegetable oil, amaretto, cherry juice, eggs, and extracts.
- Stir in maraschino cherries.
- Pour into a greased 10-cup bundt pan.
- Bake at 325 for 40-50 minutes, or until edges are brown, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter to cool completely.
- Prepare glaze.
For glaze:
- In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, amaretto, cherry extract, and powdered sugar.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
- Cut and serve.
You may also like this Cherry Almond Bread with Cherry Glaze!
Or these bundt cake recipes!
Easy German Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe
And this collection of 25 Easy Bundt Cake Recipes!
Maraschino cherries come in all sizes of jars. We have some that are only a few ounces, but also one that is huge and about 42 ounces. What size jars did you use?:
Hi Linda: I can’t believe I didn’t put the jar size in the recipe! I always do that. So sorry about that, I’ll go edit my recipe post. I used 10 oz. jars! Thank you for pointing that out. 🙂
Hello, this recipe looks great. I’m wondering what the effect would be to remove the pudding mix and use sour cream instead? I love sour cream in my cakes and breads and would prefer to skip the extra sugar and artificial ingredients in pudding mix.
I totally understand! My S.O. is the same way – he likes to avoid high-chemical products too. I honestly think that would work! Of course, I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work. My experience with cake mixes is that they’re pretty versatile. I also have seen other versions of doctored-up cake mix bundt cakes that include sour cream, so you might even try Googling that – ‘doctored up cake mix bundt’, and looking for one with sour cream. Good luck! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
If I don’t like booze in my desserts, could I just omit the amaretto? Would it still have a good cherry almond flavor?
Hi! You don’t need to use amaretto, but at least for the cake, you definitely need to substitute it rather than leave it out. I would just substitute the equivalent amount with water!
It’s more boozy in the frosting than the cake, so if you’re nervous about it having a “kick” or a “bite”, the cake itself is smooth. The amaretto doesn’t give it kick. The icing is where you’ll get a bit more kick. But it’s all preference, and maybe you avoid booze, you can certainly use water or more cherry juice as a substitute. Thanks!