Chocolate Cherry Soda Cake

Name: Chocolate Cherry Soda Cake
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

RECIPE: Excerpted from Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride by Justin Burke, copyright © 2025, reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved

Photo: Brian Samuels

May 28, 2025

This pink-frosted soda cake is moist, chocolaty, and delightfully retro.

In their book, Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride, pastry chef Justin Burke celebrates the tradition of queer gatherings through nostalgic-inspired treats best enjoyed with chosen family. Their chocolate cherry soda cake, perfect for summer parties, blends together childhood memories of old-fashioned soda shops, their great-grandmother, and the first soda cake they ever tried. “If you enjoy the flavors of cherry soda, chocolate, and maraschino cherries, you’ll adore this cake,” writes Burke. “It’s moist, chocolaty, not overly sweet, and topped with a delightful maraschino pink buttercream for that retro touch.”

Ingredients

Yield:8-10

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cherry soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained (liquid reserved), and chopped
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Maraschino Buttercream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
4 tsp. reserved maraschino liquid

Tools:9-by-5-inch loaf pan, 2 medium bowls, small bowl, electric hand mixer
Garnish:dark chocolate bar and maraschino cherries

Preparation

Make the CakePreheat your oven to 350°F and spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang along the long edges, spray parchment. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and cherry soda. Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined, about 1 minute.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk-soda mixture until smooth and well combined. Fold in the cherries.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, tap the pan to release the air bubbles, and level the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set on a wire rack and let cool completely.

Prepare the ButtercreamIn a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream the butter, powdered sugar, and salt until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the maraschino liquid and mix until evenly combined and pale pink.

Once the cake is cooled, remove from the pan lifting up from the parchment overhang. Frost the top of the cake with buttercream in an even layer. With a fine grater, generously shave the chocolate bar over the buttercream. Top with maraschino cherries.