The circumference of the top of the cake is [tex]9.5\pi\approx29.845[/tex] in.
It sounds like the baker is trying to line the circumference with cherriesto fit as many as possible along the border, like in the picture I've attached below.
This comes down to dividing the cake's circumference by the diameter of each cherry:
[tex]\dfrac{9.5\pi}{0.75}\approx39.79[/tex]
or about 39 cherries, making the answer D.
