Cherry Cream cheese Layer Cake

INGREDIENTS :

Cake:

• ½ cup butter, unsalted and at room temperature
• 1 jar maraschino cherries, drained, but save the juice
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 4 egg whites
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 ⅓ cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp cherry juice

Frosting:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
• 1 to 2 tbsp cherry juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS :

1. Preheat the oven to 350*, grease and flour two round 8 inch cake pans
2. Drain the cherries, saving the juice to use in the cake and the frosting
3. Finely chop the maraschino cherries and set to the side
4. Beat the butter and sugar until is is creamy, add the egg whites one at a time, mixing after each
5. Add in the vanilla extract and the almond extract and mix well
6. In a separate bowl add in the flour, salt, soda and baking powder
7. In another bowl mix the buttermilk with the cherry juice
8. Add the flour mix to the butter in three intervals, alternating with the buttermilk mixture
9. Mix after each addition and scraping the bowl routinely
10. Stir in the chopped cherries
11. Divide the batter between two pans, evenly
12. Bake until  a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes
13. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
14. For the Frosting: Place the butter and the cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy
15. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth, then add in vanilla and almond extracts, with the cherry juice and mix very well to combine
16. Use ½ cup of frosting on the top of the first layer, place the second layer on top and repeat with the frosting on the top layer.
17. Then frost the sides of the cake
18. Enjoy!