Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year’s Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream!

Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year's Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream! | Recipe on BlahnikBaker.com
Hey Hey!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. My week off was filled with family, good times, lots and lots of food, and this homemade Irish cream. I feel rusty typing a blog post after a much needed unplugged rest. I hope you have been able to relax and spend time with your family this Christmas break as much as I have. But I had to pop in today to celebrate the first year anniversary of Blahnik Baker with this cherry vanilla champagne cake! This little blog is a year old already and I can’t believe it. Eeeeeppp!!!! I actually published my first post on Dec 23, 2012 but all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season made me move the celebration to today.

There’s no better way to celebrate than with a recipe for cherry vanilla champagne cake!

Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year's Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream! | Recipe on BlahnikBaker.com

I am beyond grateful to all of YOU who have made this space home for my recipes, rants, advice seeking and story sharing website. We have talked about cupcakes (these dark chocolate salted caramel cupcakes being one of your favorites), cakes, cookies, mangled through making perfect macarons and the occasional banter of how my research in lab is going so slow. I’ve learned so much about blogging, food photography and have been inspired by so many bloggers.

I am thankful for each and every one of you. Your comments make my day daily, you have no idea :). I get an email each time you leave a comment and I am always so happy to read what you think of the recipes, what you are sharing, what you are relating to and what well wishes you are sending my way.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Because without you, these will be no Blahnik Baker.
Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year's Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream! | Recipe on BlahnikBaker.com

To express my gratitude, I made you cherry vanilla champagne cake.

I wish I could share a slice of this with you; it’s good! This cake is inspired by the first layered cake I blogged about. I wanted to remake it in celebration of the blog’s first anniversary and well, it’s a lovely combination of flavors.
Cherry vanilla champagne cake combines my favorite moist and fluffy white vanilla cake recipe, my favorite creamy vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, and a sweet cherry filling. Oh and I threw in some champagne, because what’s a celebration without champagne, right? This will be perfect for your New Year’s Eve celebration!!
Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year's Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream! | Recipe on BlahnikBaker.com
Once again, thank you for all the love and support! You are the best readers a girl can ask for. I look forward to what 2014 brings!

Enjoy the cherry vanilla champagne cake recipe!

Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year's Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream! | Recipe on BlahnikBaker.com
Yield: 1 8-inch layered cake

Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake

Cherry Vanilla Champagne Cake is perfect for your New year's Eve celebrations. Moist and fluffy cherry vanilla cake, filled with a sweet cherry champagne filling and topped with a creamy vanilla champagne buttercream!

Prep Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 3⅓ cups cake flour, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 ¼ cups milk, room temperature
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 5 large egg whites, room temperature
  • ¾ cup maraschino cherries, finely chopped

For Filling:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons champagne
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon cherry syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped

For Frosting

  • 5 egg whites, room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 ½ cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons champagne
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

For Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch (or two 9-inch round) cake pans and line with parchment circle. Grease parchment and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another small bowl, whisk together vanilla extract, almond extract and milk.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until very smooth on medium speed, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, add sugar gradually and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of the milk mixture. Beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. In the last addition, fold in the chopped cherries.
  6. Pour equal amounts of batter into prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula. Bake cakes until tops spring back when pressed and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes (25-30 minutes for 9-inch round)
  7. Transfer cake pans to wire racks and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks to completely cool.

For Cherry Champagne Filling:

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the rest of the ingredients except the cherries. Mix until just combined. Whip for additional minute or two until fluffy. Stir in chopped cherries.

For Vanilla Champagne Swiss Meringue buttercream:

  1. Whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof mixing bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Whisk until warm and sugar is dissolved (mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingers), about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
  2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg white mixture for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form and meringue has cooled (test by feeling bottom of bowl), about 6 minutes.
  3. Switch to the paddle attachment and reduce speed to medium. Add butter, one piece at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in champagne and vanilla. Frosting might look separated at first but keep beating until it comes together.

Assembly:

  1. Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving platter. Spread ½ of filling over the top using an offset spatula. Top with another layer and repeat with remaining filling. Smooth with offset spatula. Top with final layer of cake. Frost cake with vanilla champagne buttercream and decorate as desired. I used a Wilton tip 1M for my borders.

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