Tipsy Chocolate Cherry Sheet Cake

Welcome to (almost) December, which is also known as the time of year that I dump a bunch of liquor in a box of cake mix and call it a recipe.

On the menu today is Tipsy Chocolate Cherry Sheet Cake.  I think cherries and chocolate are quite possibly one of my favorite food combinations, and any time you throw a bunch of liquor at anything, I'm going to be a fan.  One of the top visited recipes on my blog is for these chocolate covered brandy cherries, and these chocolate covered cherry cookies aren't too far behind, so I guess I'm not the only person who things chocolate and cherries and alcohol play nicely together.

I've been making variations of this cake forever but this is the first time I made it in sheet cake form,  and I'll have to say I'm a fan.  It was ever so much easier to disguise the fact that my oven doesn't heat evenly so one side of my cakes is always two inches higher than the other.

[Printable Recipe]

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 chocolate cake mix of your choice
1 10 oz. jar of maraschino cherries
1 can of cream cheese frosting
1 can of chocolate frosting of your choice
eggs and oil to the cake mix directions
1/4 teaspoon cherry extract
1 cup (approximate) cherry flavored liquor.  I have used cherry brandy, but I was out this time so I used UV Cherry Vodka, and it was yummy.  Yummy.  Yummy.


WHAT YOU DO:
At least two to three hours before you plan to bake your cake, drain the juice from the cherries and reserve it in a separate container.  Then fill the container (with the cherries still inside) back up with cherry flavored liquor.  I usually do this the day before I'm baking the cake, if I remember to.

Prepare the cake batter according to package directions, EXCEPT replace any water needed with a combo of the reserved cherry juice and the cherry liquor your drain from the cherries, up to the amount of water the directions call for.

Bake in a 9x11 or 9x13 sheet pan according to the directions on the mix.

Allow the cake to cool completely.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of cherry extract to the chocolate frosting and stir well.  Frost the cake.  Use the cream cheese frosting to frost around the edges.  When I make a layer cake, I use the cream cheese between the layers.  Top with the liquor soaked, drained cherries.

Eat up!