• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans, adding a circle of parchment or wax paper to the bottom of each pan.
• Sprinkle the chopped, sliced almonds evenly on the bottom of the three prepared pans. You can chop them in a food processor. Or, place in a ziplock bag and roll/hit with a rolling pin to break into smaller pieces.
• Finely chop the maraschino cherries (one cup) and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
• In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and almond extract. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
• Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 3 minutes.
• Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk has blended.
• Mixing on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). After last addition, mix just until combined.
• Fold in the finely chopped maraschino cherries.
• Divide the batter between the three prepared pans (which have been sprinkled with chopped almonds). Smooth over the batter with the back of a spoon.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
• This recipe makes 7 ½ cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

For the Almond Cream Cheese Frosting

• Mix batter on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
• Add the softened cream cheese to the butter, mixing at low to medium speed until smooth and well combined.
• Add the almond flavoring. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Add coloring gel if you are tinting the frosting.
• Continue to mix on low to medium speed until well combined and smooth.
• Store in the refrigerator. If making the frosting in advance, allow to sit on the kitchen counter until it comes closer to room temperature. You may need to remix.

Assembling the Cake

• Place the first cake layer on a cake base or pedestal. Lightly brush over the top with maraschino cherry juice (from the jar of cherries). We used a silicone pastry brush for this. It is thin, it will sink in immediately.
• Next, spread the top of the layer with cream cheese frosting. Top with the second cake layer and repeat (brush with cherry juice, frost with frosting). Top with the third cake layer.
• Fill in any gaps between cake layers with frosting. Frost a thin layer of frosting on top and around the sides of the cake. At this point, we like to chill the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) to firm everything up before applying the final coat of frosting.
• Decorate however you like! We added texture with an offset spatula, and then pressed a border of sliced almonds around the bottom. We piped swirls around the top with a 2D large star piping tip and topped with maraschino cherries.

Storage

• This cake should be refrigerated in an airtight container or under a cake dome. For best flavor and texture, remove the cake 2-3 hours before serving so that the cake and frosting have plenty of time to warm and soften.