Julie Clark
Posted: Updated:
Shirley Temple Cake
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
A light and delicious bundt, this Shirley Temple Cake will evoke the inner child in us. Full of lemon lime and cherry flavor this cake is truly addicting!
Please don’t tell me that I was the only one as a child who got to enjoy the iconic Shirley Temple Drink? Oh man how I loved them! It was the perfect mocktail of my youth!
I can honestly say it’s been ages since I’ve had one and it took me creating this bundt cake to realize that. I hate when it happens that way! But I’m so happy I got to take a little trip down memory lane. This Shirley Temple Cake is the perfect grown up throwback to your childhood!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- 100% homemade
- Uses 7UP pound cake base
- Infused cherry juice and whole cherries
- Sweet glaze
- A great make ahead dessert
What is Shirley Temple Cake?
This cake is a traditional 7Up flavored pound cake with cherries mixed into the batter. It bakes up beautiful and golden brown. It’s then poked and poured with cherry juice and glazed with a delicious sweet lemon glaze. These flavors just burst in your mouth and the saturation of the cherry juice right under the top is AH-MAZING!
Ingredients
- Butter. We use salted butter 99% of the time in baking because that is what we keep on hand. You can use either unsalted or salted.
- Sugar.
- Eggs. Use large eggs. Room temperature eggs mix into cake batter more easily than cold eggs.
- Flour. To measure the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup lightly, then level off with a knife. If you get too much flour the cake will be dry.
- Lemon extract. For a boost of flavor!
- 7UP. You’ll notice this cake does not have baking soda or baking powder. The 7UP helps give the pound cake rise.
- Maraschino cherries. It’s important to note that some maraschino cherries do not have red food coloring. You can still use those if you’d like, but they won’t have the vibrant red color that this cake has. If you want bright red, find cherries with food coloring.
Glaze ingredients are powdered sugar, lemon extract and milk to thin.
How to Make Shirley Temple Cake
- Prepare. Preheat oven to 325º Fahrenheit. Grease a 10″ bundt pan with shortening, then dust it with flour. Or you can use cake release.
- Mix. In large bowl mix together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in your eggs and continue to mix until blended. Add in your flour and mix again until smooth.
- Pour and fold. Pour in your lemon extract and 7up and beat to combine. Fold in your cherries.
- Bake. Spread the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 70-90 minutes or until center is set. The exact time will depend on your oven and pan so watch it closely.
The next step is to poke holes in the cake and pour over the maraschino cherry juice. You can do this one of two ways: while the cake is in the pan or after you take it out. The red will be on top of the cake if you take the cake out first. The red will be more on the bottom of the cake if you pour the juice while it is in the pan.
Powdered Sugar Glaze
Powdered sugar glaze is one of the easiest frostings to make to add flavor and beauty to your cake. You can make the glaze thicker to have a pretty contrasted drizzle, or you can make it thinner and have it look more like donut glaze.
Shirley Temple Cake
A light and delicious bundt, this Shirley Temple Cake will evoke the inner child in us. Full of lemon lime and cherry flavor this cake is truly addicting!
Servings 12
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups butter (softened)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs (room temperature)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 3/4 cup 7up soda
- 10 ounces maraschino cherries (1 jar, drained and juice reserved)
For the glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º Fahrenheit.
- In large bowl mix together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in your eggs and continue to mix until blended.
- Add in your flour and mix again until smooth.
- Pour in your lemon extract and 7up and beat to combine.
- Fold in your cherries.
- Grease a 10″ bundt pan with shortening, then dust it with flour.
- Spread the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 70-90 minutes or until center is set. The exact time will depend on your oven and pan so watch it closely.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan.* (see note below about juice)
- Turn the cake onto serving dish. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cake and pour your reserved cherry juice slowly over the top making sure the juice gets soaked up. It's ok for it to seep to the bottom to soak as well.
- Let cool completely.
- Meanwhile mix together your glaze ingredients and drizzle over the top of your cake.
- Top with more cherries if desired.
- Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 days. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. This cake also freezes well.
Video
Notes
*Another option is to poke holes in the cake while it is still in the pan. Then drizzle the juice over. This contains the juice in the pan and may be less messy. Your red will end up more on the bottom of the cake, so it really depends on the look you want to have. Either way will work!
The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 12 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 623kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 233mg | Potassium: 70mg | Sugar: 71g | Vitamin A: 815IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1.8mg
My daughter requested this cake for her birthday. It was amazing. She was pretty happy. Thank you for sharing.
So delicious
Would it make a difference in the cake if I chopped up the cherries?
Thanks!!
I made this cake and it’s delicious! I did use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour and I added sour cream to the cake mix. I wasn’t able to put 100% of the cake mix in the bundt pan, I was able to put like 95% of the cake mix into the bunt pan and it didn’t overflow.
Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made this a few times now, and it’s amazing!!!!
Just made this cake today . I went by the exact directions. However when I started poking holes in the whole thing just fell apart not sure why
Took out enough batter for 6 reg-sized cupcakes and it still ran over sides of my 10 inch tube. Don’t know why, but will try cutting whole recipe by 1/3 next time. It is delicious and worth another shot. Used cherry juice and skipped the lemon extract in the glaze.
My mom is a diabetic but wants this cake for her birthday. Am I able to substitute the flour for almond flour and a sugar substitute?
Could Sprite be used instead of 7up?
Everyone loved it! I added 1/4 cup apple sauce and used cream cheese lemon icing.
Has anyone tried this with mini bundt cake pans? I think they’d be cute. 🙂
That was so easy to make and so amazing good to eat
No soda or baking powder?
I use Lorann Oils. So can you advise me as to how much lemon oil to use? Maybe even how many “drops” to use. Thank you.
Hello. I grew up in Southern California. My father was in the military. I remember he would take my mother and I to Ports O Call and I would sit in this booster seat. He would order me a Shirley Temple drink and a lobster dinner(for kids). Good memories. So, with that said, I think this would be a nice cake to try for dessert. I plan on making a surf and turf anniversary dinner for my husband, son and I. It’s just us three. I will get some ice cream or make some homemade whipping cream and dessert will… Read more »
I haven’t had a bundt pan in years. A tube pan should work fine shouldn’t it?