Cherry and Almond Cupcakes
I had been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while, but I had a tough time finding a recipe for cherry cupcakes that used maraschino cherries and wasn't chocolate. In the end I wound up adapting a vanilla cupcake recipe myself. They turned out incredible! These are might just be the best cupcakes I've ever made. They are incredibly moist and fluffy and the different flavours are strong but not overpowering.
Total Steps
22
Ingredients
17
Tools Needed
14
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs, separated, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
- 1 10 ounce jar of maraschino cherries, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 1 pound bag of icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 4-5 tablespoons cold milk
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2
Grease or line muffin tins.
Step 3
In a large bowl, cream together the first portion of butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Step 4
Add two egg yolks and mix for an additional minute.
Step 5
Add the remaining egg yolks and mix for an additional minute. Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix in.
Step 6
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 7
In another bowl, combine milk and maraschino cherry juice.
Step 8
Alternate between adding dry ingredients and liquid ingredients to the butter mixture, a little bit at a time.
Step 9
Fold in chopped cherries.
Step 10
In a small bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.
Step 11
With a rubber spatula, add about 1/2 cup of the egg whites to the mixture and fold in gently, to separate and lighten the batter.
Step 12
Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently until no white streaks are present.
Step 13
Fill cupcake tins half full and bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Step 14
Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for ten minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Step 15
Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Step 16
For the frosting, mix the remaining butter and the shortening in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
Step 17
Add almond extract and mix until combined.
Step 18
Add icing sugar a little at a time, mixing until combined after each addition.
Step 19
Once all of the icing sugar has been mixed in, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the icing has reached the desired consistency.
Step 20
In a dry frying pan, toast almond slices over medium heat until they become fragrant and turn light brown. Keep the almonds moving and flip frequently so that they don't burn.
Step 21
Pipe a swirl of frosting on each cupcake using a 1M tip.
Step 22
Place three or four toasted almond slices on each.