Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

Alright, I've been waiting to post this recipe up since this weekend, especially after the reviews I received on Monday. I usually bake everything on Saturdays or Sundays, but then post the recipes on Wednesday. Why?? Because I figured, if someone wanted to look up something yummy for the weekend, they'd probably start looking it up during the week. Since Wednesday's hump day, it's a good day for posts because it's right smack-dab in the middle of the week! I hope that makes sense.

Ok, the second recipe in 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson is Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes. After making these this weekend, and after making most things, I take everything to my job in order to share the baking love. The lucky people that got to try these all gave me amazing reviews: how moist and flavorful these were, along with how these had to be the best kind of chocolate cake/cupcake they had ever tried. Sooo... here we go!

Here is the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt (before mixing).

Here is the sugar and oil in my mixer's bowl.

In a separate bowl, I mixed the cherry pie filling with the vanilla and almond extract (I kind of thought that by "marinating" the filling, the cherries would absorb the extracts and then be more tasteful in the final product).

This is flour/cocoa powder/baking soda/salt mixture, along with the cranberry juice cocktail (I couldn't find cherry juice at my local Publix, so I chose the cocktail instead).

Ok. Here's the batter, before mixing in the balsamic vinegar (Yea, I didn't think it looked very appetizing either, but once it was all mixed it looked great).

The baking cups are ready for the oven (I really filled the cups because I figured that since it had so much juice in it, that they might not rise alot).

They're fresh out of the oven...

...and now they're completely cooling off on the rack.

These were frosted with Chocolate Fudge Frosting, just like the Best Chocolate Cupcakes.

Here's one of the cupcakes split down the middle. Even though you can't really tell in the picture, in real life you can see the bits and pieces of cherry inside the cupcakes.

As I mentioned above, these received great reviews. One warning though: these cupcakes are for true chocolate lovers. I think it has to do with the cherry and chocoalte combination. The chocolate flavor is really brought out in this recipe, along with a cherry aroma and a great cherry taste. This leads to an extremely moist cupcake, which was also rather dense. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed them. Chocolate lovers will get a kick out of them too.

This recipe included one variation:
Add 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips along with the vinegar.

These tasted phenomenal. They had a kind of brownie-like feel to them, but that's due to the chocolate chips. These received just as great reviews as the original ones.

Whichever one of these (either the original or the variation) is great, so I'd go with either one!

Here are the featured recipes:

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
*makes 12 cupcakes*

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup canned cherry pie filling (not canned cherries in juice)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup cherry juice or cranberry juice cocktail
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350F.
2) Line muffin pan with paper liners.
3) In a small bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
4) In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and oil. Mix in cherry pie filling, vanilla, and almond extract. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and cherry juice, making three additions of flour mixture and two of juice, beating until batter is smooth. Mix in vinegar.
5) Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting
*makes enough to frost 12 to 18 cupcakes*

Ingredients :
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp chooclate cream liqueur
1 tbsp strong brewed coffee or milk
pinch salt

Directions :
1) In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, butter, chocolate liqueur, coffee, and salt until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary.
2) Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.



Recipes from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson