Fourth of July Cherry Cola Cake

I found this recipe on the Better Homes and Gardens website, and thought it sounded pretty good. I'm thinking you could also do this with strawberry, orange, or raspberry flavored sodas and get something that tastes pretty good too.

Ingredients
1 pkg. 2-layer size German chocolate cake mix
Cherry cola
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. finely shredded lime peel
1 recipe Celebration Icing
10 to 12 dark sweet cherries with stems

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. Prepare cake mix according to package directions except substitute cherry cola for the liquid called for and add ground ginger and lime peel. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake according to package directions. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

2. Use a serrated knife to cut top of cake level. Trim edges of cake. Discard trimmed pieces. Cut cake in half lengthwise into two 13x4-1/2-inch rectangles. Place one rectangle on a serving platter. Spread with tinted icing. Top with second rectangle. Spread with white icing. Refrigerate cake for 1 hour or until icing is set. Wrap cake in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours before serving. Top each slice with a cherry. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Celebration Icing: This recipe is based a 1-lb. box (about 41/2 cups) of powdered sugar. In a medium mixing bowl beat 1/3 cup butter with electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in 2 cups powdered sugar. Divide the mixture in half. To half of the recipe beat in 2 tablespoons cherry spreadable fruit and red food coloring to make a pink icing. Gradually beat in enough powdered sugar for spreading consistency. To remaining half add enough powdered sugar for spreading consistency. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Yummy! Sounds good. But did you notice under number 2 on the directions? "Discard trimmed pieces" Discard cake? Sacrilege! Eat it!

Yeah, I saw that too. That'd be my tester pieces to make sure the cake was ok!

Some notes on things I did with this cake -

I used Pillsbury Super Moist Devil's Food Cake mix because they didn't have a German Chocolate Cake mix at the store when I bought my supplies. I took Pillsbury's advice and added a cup of chocolate pudding to the cake mix for an extra moist cake, and it worked. The cake turns out absolutely fabulous, and this is from someone who isn't that fond of chocolate cake!

I definitely used name brand Cherry Coke, because I personally find it to be the best cherry flavored cola out there. My second runner up would probably have been Cheerwine, but you can't find that anywhere but NC and SC, so....

Oh, I used cream cheese icing because I had made some and stored it in the freezer and was looking for an excuse to use it. It tastes good, but be warned the cream cheese flavor is a little strong and competes with the cherry spreadable fruit they tell you to put in the mix. So if you don't have any icing on hand, just go ahead and follow the recipe for the icing they give you.

Definitely grind your lime peels finely. I missed a few when I was doing this and it ended up looking like I had leaves in my cake, lol! But this is definitely a delicious addition; you sure can taste the lime flavoring once it's all done.

Thanks! Off to the store, while the sun is peaking through.