Cherry Ball Cake

This is the cake I made for my father for Father's Day. One of my father's favorite sweet treats of all time are cherry balls that my great aunt makes at Christmastime. So my dad usually only gets to have these once a year, but when he does, my aunt always makes sure he gets a good dose of them. I have made them for my father myself upon occasion, but he still doesn't get them very often because no one else in the house is as big of a fan of them and it's hard to make a small batch, not to mention they are a bit tedious. And they do seem more like a Christmas treat. 

The cherry balls are basically a mixture of coconut and icing sugar flavored with a little vanilla and cream wrapped around a whole maraschino cherry. The balls are then rolled in graham cracker crumbs. Instead of making some cherry balls for my father, I decided to make a cherry ball cake inspired by this sweet treat. I had made cherry ball squares before on the same premises, so why not try a cake? Father's Day does deserve a cake after all.

I began with a basic moist white coconut cake baked in an 8x8 inch square pan. Then I made a coconut brown sugar filling (because my father loves brown sugar) with chopped maraschino cherries. I used green cherries for the filling and red for the topping because that is what I had on hand, but any kind will do as they all taste the same. Red and green would make a nice cake for Christmas. Then I frosted the top of the cake with a sweet cream cheese enriched frosting (just for a little extra flavor burst) and decorated the top with shredded coconut and red cherries. I did not have any graham cracker crumbs on hand, so I just sprinkled a little brown sugar on top, which basically gives the same look but just a sweeter taste. 

Happy Father's Day! :)