Cherry Marble Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Chocolate swirls with cherry in this Cherry Marble Cake made in a bundt pan. Don’t skip the mouthwatering chocolate glaze on top!

I’ve always thought marble cakes were so pretty, so when I found this vintage cake recipe in an old Pillsbury cookbook , I knew I had to make it.

This Cherry Marble Cake has swirls of chocolate and cherry cake batter, then is topped with a pretty chocolate drizzle. It will make a gorgeous presentation for Valentine’s Day or any day.

Why you’ll love this cake:

thick, moist bundt cake
pretty chocolate cherry swirl
maraschino cherries, nuts and coconut loaded inside
drizzled with a mouth-watering simple chocolate glaze

cherry marble cake on a plate with whipped cream

Is marble cake hard to make?

Marble cake is not hard to make, but it is not a quick one bowl cake. You have to take part of the cake batter you mix up and add chocolate (in this case) to it to color it a different color.

Marble cakes can be 9×13, layer cakes or just like this pretty bundt cake. If you have patience, you’ll end up with a beautiful cake to present!

overhead view of a glazed chocolate cake

What are maraschino cherries?

This cake calls for maraschino cherries. What are they? They are a preserved cherry that are brined, then colored and soaked in a syrup.

Some maraschino cherries do not have red food coloring in them. Use maraschino cherries that DO have red color so that the cake is slightly colored pink and the cherries stay bright red. If they don’t have red food color, the cherries will end up a light gray color in your cake.

How to Make Cherry Marble Cake

Start with a 10″ bundt cake pan that you’ve greased well with cake release. If you don’t have cake release, grease the pan with shortening, then dust with flour.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the sugar and shortening on medium speed until it is well combined.
Add in the sour cream, cherry juice, water and eggs. Beat again until combined.

Add in the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, for 2 minutes.
Move half of the batter to another bowl.

chocolate over cake batter in a mixing bowl

Add the melted chocolate to the separated batter and mix to combine.
Add the walnuts and cherries to the batter and fold to combine.
Spoon half of the cherry batter into the prepared pan, then half of the chocolate batter. Then repeat the layers. Smooth the top so that the batter is even in the pan.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

The cake should cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn it out to cool completely.

How to Make a Chocolate Glaze

The glaze for this cake is silky and sweet.

ingredients for chocolate glaze on a table

In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and whisk well. Add enough warm water until the glaze is a drizzling consistency. The thickness depends on what you’d like your cake to look like. Add the water slowly, mixing between each addition.

Then you’ll drizzle the cake over the cooled cake.

cherry marble cake with one slice missing

Recipe Variations:

Use butter instead of shortening. This will change the texture of the cake slightly but you can do it if you’d like.
Use Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream to add protein to the cake.
Pecans or even almonds would make a great substitute for the walnuts.

Cherry Marble Cake

4.67 from 3 votes

Chocolate swirls with cherry in this Cherry Marble Cake made in a bundt pan. Don't skip the mouthwatering chocolate glaze on top!

Servings 32

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 55

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Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
¾ cup shortening
1 cup sour cream
⅓ cup maraschino cherry juice*
¼ cup cold water
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate melted (2 one ounce blocks)
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup chopped maraschino cherries

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate melted (2 one ounce blocks)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons warm water

Instructions

Make the cake:

Grease with shortening and flour a 10” bundt cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the sugar and shortening on medium speed until it is well combined.
Add in the sour cream, cherry juice, water and eggs. Beat again until combined.
Add in the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, for 2 minutes.
Move half of the batter to another bowl.
Add the melted chocolate to the separated batter and mix to combine.
Add the walnuts and cherries to the batter and fold to combine.
Spoon half of the cherry batter into the prepared pan, then half of the chocolate batter. Then repeat the layers. Smooth the top so that the batter is even in the pan.
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes, then loosen the cake and turn onto a cake plate to cool completely.

Make the glaze:

In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and whisk well. Add enough warm water until the glaze is a drizzling consistency.
Drizzle the chocolate glaze over the cooled cake.
Serve with whipped cream and extra maraschino cherries.

Notes

*Some maraschino cherries do not have red food coloring in them. Use maraschino cherries that DO have red color so that the cake is slightly colored pink and the cherries stay bright red.