Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350*.

Step 2

Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with baking spray (Baker’s Joy or Wilton’s Bake-Ease)

Step 3

Remove the cherries from the jar, reserving the liquid in the jar to be used in making the cherry frosting . There will be 25-30 cherries in the jar. Remove the stems of 15 of the cherries. Slice the cherries in half, then slice the halves in half again. Keep the remainder of the cherries in the jar with the stems on to garnish the tops of the frosted pieces of cake.

Step 4

Using a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer and a large mixing bowl, add the dry cake mix and the cherry Dr. Pepper. No water/milk, eggs or oil will be used in this recipe. Mix on low until the dry cake mix and Dr. Pepper are just combined.

Step 5

Using a large spoon, stir in the sliced cherries.

Step 6

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 28 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set the cake aside and allow the cake to cool completely.

Step 7

Using a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer and large mixing bowl, on medium speed, cream together softened butter, reserved cherry juice (about ¼ to ⅓ cup). NOTE: Make sure the butter is softened, not melted

Step 8

Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the 3 cups of powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. This should be a firm frosting consistency, like canned frosting. If the frosting is thin, add up to ½ cup additional powdered sugar. Be careful to not make the frosting very thick that it will not spread easily. Again, the consistency should be like canned frosting.

Step 9

Spread the frosting evenly on top of the cake.

Step 10

Next, gently score the size of the serving pieces of cake.

Step 11

Place one of the reserved cherries with stems in the middle of each piece of cake. If the amount of stemmed cherries is less than the number of servings, remove the cherry stems and slice them in half and garnish the tops of the pieces of cake.

Step 12

To help the frosting set before cutting the individual pieces, place the cake in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Step 13

If using store bought chocolate shavings, sprinkle the shavings evenly over the top of the frosting. Or using a vegetable peeler and a chocolate bar, gently scrape down the sides of the chocolate to make the shavings. (Scrape as you would when peeling the skin of a carrot, but gently).