Homemade cherry filling is so easy to make, you will never go back to canned cherry pie filling! With just a few ingredients and a few minutes, you can create sweet, tart cherry filling from scratch! Perfect as a cake or cupcake filling!
Ingredients for Cherry Filling
- Frozen sweet cherries: You can use fresh or frozen sweet cherries. Frozen are more readily available due to the limited cherry season.
- Granulated sugar: Granulated sugar adds a bit of sweetness to the filling. You can add a bit more or less dependent upon your personal taste.
- Water: Water helps dissolve the sugar and is also used to make cornstarch slurry.
- Lemon juice: Lemon juice adds a bit of tartness. I recommend using fresh for best results, but you can also use bottled if you have it.
- Cornstarch: Water and cornstarch create a slurry that thickens the filling.
How to Make Cherry Filling
- Combine frozen cherries, granulated sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan.
- Cook the cherries over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cherries have softened.
- Stir together cornstarch and water to make a slurry.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cornstarch slurry mixing immediately to combine.
- Transfer the filling to a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature.
- Use immediately or cover and chill in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
How to Use
Cake: Use as a cake filling! It pairs perfectly with chocolate cake and whipped cream to create a Black Forest Cake (pictured below).
Cupcakes: Fill cored cupcakes!. This recipe would pair well with vanilla, chocolate, almond, or cherry cupcakes! It is one of the star components of my Black Forest Cupcakes!
Topping: Top cheesecake, ice cream, pavlova, or any other dessert that would pair well with cherries!
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Cherry Filling
Ingredients
- 16 oz. frozen sweet cherries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine frozen sweet cherries, granulated sugar, ½ cup water, and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
- Cook the cherry mixture over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries soften, approximately 10-15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 2 tbsp water. Stir to combine.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour cornstarch slurry into the cherry mixture and stir immediately to prevent lumps.
- Transfer the cherry filling to a heatproof container. Cool to room temperature.
- You can use the cherry filling once it cools to room temperature or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
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