The Best Maraschino Cherry Buttercream Frosting
Our delicious buttercream frosting is flavored with yummy cherries. If you are a cherry lover, The Best Maraschino Cherry Buttercream Frosting is the frosting for you!
Maraschino Cherries remind us of our Grandparents. When we were kids, Laurie and I spent weekends with them quite a bit. When we went out to dinner on Saturday night we got to order Shirley Temples when the grown-ups ordered their before-dinner cocktails. And those Shirley Temples were always chock full of Maraschino Cherries. So sweet … so delicious … so perfect as an addition to buttercream frosting. If you are a fan of these candied cherries, this Best Maraschino Cherry Buttercream Frosting is for you. It would be perfect on chocolate, cherry, or white cake. And not just cakes but cupcakes, brownies, and bar cookies too. Enjoy!
How to Make
Step 1: Add the butter and the maraschino cherry juice to a mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature. If the butter is too cold it will be hard to mix with the cherry juice. If it is too soft, it will start melting during the mixing process and your frosting consistency will be off.
Step 2: Mix the butter and the cherry juice together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.) You really want the cherry flavor to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting. Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl.
Step 3: Add the Powdered Sugar to the mixing bowl.
Step 4: Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer. Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the marshmallow fluff/butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy.
Step 5: Add the cornstarch to the frosting and mix until combined. This will thicken the frosting and counteract the moisture of the cherry juice without adding any extra flavor.
Step 6: Taste the frosting. This is a thin frosting. It will never be a frosting that is pipeable or will crust up like buttercream. That being said, as you can see in our pictures, you can do a swirl. The first thing you should do before using the frosting is put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so, that will help the butter firm up. Another thing to try if the frosting is too thin is to add EITHER 1/2 cup of powdered sugar or another 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
Step 7: Finely dice 8-10 Maraschino Cherries. (Make sure you dry the cherries with a paper towel before you chop them. You don’t want to add any extra liquid to the frosting.) Add the cherry pieces to the frosting.
Step 8: Fold the cherries into the frosting with a spoon.
How to Serve
How much frosting will you need? That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Cherry Icing to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag as we have done here, you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
Yes. Because it is a thin frosting it will hold up best in the refrigerator. We store the baked goods frosted with this Cherry Frosting in the refrigerator but then remove them from the refrigerator a couple of hours before we will serve them so the frosting comes back up to room temperature (which is how it tastes best.)
Frosting stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator should be good for up to a week. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Buttercream is a sweet frosting and the addition of the Maraschino Cherries also ups the sweetness level. One thing you can do if it seems too sweet for your palette is to add a pinch of salt to the frosting. But please note that a little salt goes a long way. We cannot stress enough that a pinch (10-15 granules of regular table salt) is all you usually need. Even 1/4 a teaspoon of salt would probably ruin the frosting. Add the salt and mix again and see if that has cut down on the sweetness level.
Temperature plays a big part in the consistency of frosting. A thin frosting could mean that the butter has gotten overworked and is too melted. The first thing to do is refrigerate the frosting for an hour and then check to see if the frosting has set back up again. If not, the next step is to add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start with either 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
Other Frosting Recipes You Will Love
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The Best Maraschino Cherry Buttercream Frosting
Our delicious buttercream frosting flavored with yummy cherries. If you are a cherry lover, The Best Maraschino Cherry Buttercream Frosting is the frosting for you!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter, slightly softened (We use Sweet Cream Salted Butter)
- 1/4 cup Maraschino Cherry juice
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 6-8 Maraschino Cherries (diced)
Instructions
- Add the butter and the maraschino cherry juice to a mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
- Mix the butter and the cherry juice together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.) You really want the cherry flavor to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting.
- Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl.
- Add the Powdered Sugar to the mixing bowl.
- Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the marshmallow fluff/butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy.
- Add the cornstarch to the frosting and mix until combined. This will thicken the frosting and counteract the moisture of the cherry juice without adding any extra flavor.
- Finely dice 8-10 Maraschino Cherries.
- Fold the cherries into the frosting with a spoon.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
