Vanilla Cake with Balsamic Cherry Mascarpone

If you’re looking for an easy yet unique dessert that will really impress, Vanilla Cake with Balsamic Cherry Mascarpone is what you need to make.

The trick to the perfect dessert is to make something that is first delicious, but secretly very easy. That’s exactly what this dessert was. 

The easy part comes from making your cake using a mix. I don’t think making a cake from scratch is particularly difficult, but anytime you have to measure ingredients and mix according to a specific procedure, there’s always the chance of screwing it up. Mixes make everything more easy. I used the Trader Joe’s vanilla bean cake mix because it is simply the very best boxed cake I’ve ever had.

Next comes the cherries. All you have to do is pit them and soak them in a bath of balsamic vinegar and sugar. This gives the cherries a unique yet delicious flavor. Please do a better job of pitting them than I did. I mistakenly left one pit in one cherry and my co-worker was the lucky one who found my mistake. Fortunately all of his molars are still in tact. 

My kids devoured this cake, as did I, as did the people at work. I make a lot of desserts and I’m pretty sure we would quickly pass the threshold from healthy, to over weight, straight to obese if we were to eat everything I make. That being said, you must make this cake. You won’t be sorry.

Vanilla Cake with Balsamic Cherry Mascarpone

Prep20 minutes mins

Cook35 minutes mins

Total55 minutes mins

Servings 9 servings

Author Krissy Allori

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If you're looking for an easy yet unique dessert that will really impress, Vanilla Cake with Balsamic Cherry Mascarpone is what you need to make.

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Equipment

• 9x9 baking dish

Ingredients 

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Cake:

• ▢ 1 package vanilla cake mix see note
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1/2 cup butter melted
• ▢ 1 cup whole milk

Topping:

• ▢ 16 ounces cherries fresh sweet red cherries, pitted with stems removed
• ▢ 3 tablespoons sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar aged balsamic vinegar
• ▢ 8 ounces mascarpone cheese room temperature

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Instructions 

• Bake cake in 9x9 or 8x8 inch pan according to package directions. Allow to cool.
• Combine cherries with sugar and balsamic. Allow to soak and macerate for at least 2 hours.
• Combine half of the liquid from the cherries with the mascarpone and blend well. Spread on top of cake.
• Using slotted spoon, add cherries to top of cake. Drizzle remaining liquid over the cherries.
• Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

I used Trader Joe's mix which makes an 8x8 inch cake. Other cake mixes might result in a larger cake and require different ingredients other than the egg, butter and milk.

Nutrition

Calories: 498kcal, Carbohydrates: 61g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 91mg, Sodium: 528mg, Potassium: 201mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 37g, Vitamin A: 797IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 207mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this? Leave me a comment below