Sift together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the softened butter, milk and cherry juice. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in the chopped cherries.
Add the egg whites and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. Divide the batter between the cake pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when you touch the center of it. Allow the cakes to sit for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pans to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream.
In a stand mixer bowl, with the mixer on medium speed, whip the butter for 2-3 minutes until it is almost white in color. Add in the powdered sugar, cherry juice, heavy cream and almond extract. Add a drop or two of red food coloring if you'd like the cake to be a little pinker. Beat on low speed again for 2-3 minutes.
Once the cakes are cool, place one cake on a cake plate. Put a layer of frosting on top of the cake. Then place the second cake on top of the frosting. Using a knife, spread frosting on the top and sides of the cake, covering it completely and getting the frosting as smooth as possible.
Decorating (optional): Use a knife or spoon and drag it up the cake sides, starting at the bottom and going to the top. This will create nice lines up the sides of the cake.
Use a coupler to attach Wilton tip #11 to a decorating bag. Fill the bag with buttercream and pipe simple stars around the bottom and top edges of the cake.
Place the drained and paper towel dried maraschino cherries on the top of the cake in the placement that you'd like them. Place almond slices around the cherry, sticking them into the buttercream so they look like flower petals around the cherry.
Refrigerate the cake until serving.
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Notes
The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 15 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. If you'd like to lower the calories, use less frosting. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.