Love At First Bite: Cherry Crunch Cake

I don’t know where this recipe came from, all I know is that my mother got it from her mother so in my book it’s a “grandma recipe”.  My husband loves, loves, loves this dessert and so does everyone I know.  It is really simple, so simple in fact that your kids could help you make it.  I’m planning on making my sweetheart this dessert for valentines day and I know that it will be fast, easy and delicious!  Especially with a little scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side!  You can serve it warm or room temp, either way it’s super good.

Here’s how you do it!

Ingredients:

• 1 small baking dish –9×9 or heart shaped pan (my heart shaped pan came from the thrift store for $0.60.)  Go check out the cookware and holiday section at your local thrift store for any unique shaped pans like this.
• 1 Can of Cherry Pie Filling
• 1 Box of Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 Bag of Pecans– that’s pronounced “Pee-cans” if your from the south and “Pe-cons” everywhere else. 🙂
• 1 Stick of Butter
• 1 Cup of Water

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES

Step 1: Spray non-stick spray in the bottom of baking pan (or coat with butter).

Step 2: Pour in the can of cherry pie filling ( you can use more than one can if you really, really like the filling).

Step 3: Spread out the cake mix on top of the filling but don’t pack it down (the butter mixture needs to seep into the cake top).

Step 4: Melt the butter and water together in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Step 5: Pour the melted butter/water mixture over the loose cake mix.

Step 6: Sprinkle nuts all over the top of the cake (optional).

Step 7: Bake in the oven @ 350 Degrees for 20 minutes or until the top cake is nice and golden in color.

 Helpful Hints:

• Remember, don’t pack the cake powder down because it prevents the butter and water mixture from seeping in.  You will literally have whole chunks of powdered cake batter in your finished product which is kinda gross.
• Is it done?- This is a unique cake in that you aren’t using any raw eggs.  I can usually tell it’s done when the cake top looks like baked cake rather than a raw mix.  Some small areas may still look a little “wet” when you’re done but as long as the majority of the top looks like baked up like baked cake you should be good!  If not, pop in the oven for 5 minutes at a time until you see the topping you want to have.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Kim Anderson
About Me

Kim Anderson

Kim’s is the party planning, cupcake loving, celebration catalyst behind the Thrifty Little Mom Blog. Kim was a pro event planner for over 7 years before she became a full-time blogger. Kim is the author of: Live, Save, Spend, Repeat: The Life You Want with the Money You Have. She’s been featured on Time.com, Money.com, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Day and more! Kim aims to inspire you to create parties, celebrations and gatherings that everyone loves!