BOURBON BLACK FOREST CUPCAKES
Ingredients
CUPCAKES:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
BOURBON CHERRY FILLING:
- 1 jar 16oz cherries pitted, stemless
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbs bourbon
VANILLA FROSTING:
- 1/2 cup almond butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbs milk
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
CHERRY FROSTING:
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2 tbs cherry filling
- 1 tbs milk
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
CUPCAKES:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl and carefully whisk them together.
- In another bowl, add butter and sugar and mix with a hand mixer on medium speed until completely blended. The mixture will look crumbly.
- Add the vanilla and the egg. Mix well.
- Add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Repeat with the second half of the flour and buttermilk.
- Spoon batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
BOURBON CHERRY FILLING:
- In a blender, blend the cherries and juices from the jar until completely smooth.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring cherry puree and sugar to a simmer. Cook until the mixture is reduced to half, stirring often, then turn the heat down to low. Cook until the mixture is a jelly-like consistency, stirring often.
- Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon.
- Let the filling cool completely. Reserve two tablespoons of the filling for the cherry frosting.
- Using a knife, cut about an inch into the cupcakes and remove the centers of the cupcakes. You can keep a little piece of the cake to cover up the filling if you’d like.
- Add the cherry filling to the cupcakes and replace the tops.
VANILLA FROSTING:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand-held mixer), beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add the vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until mostly combined. Then mix on medium speed until completely combined and creamy.
CHERRY FROSTING:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand-held mixer), beat butter and cherry filling on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add milk and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until mostly combined. Then mix on medium speed until completely and creamy.
- To create the swirled frosting, fit a piping bag with a large star tip. Put the piping bag in a large cup and fold the bag down over the cup. Using a rubber spatula, add a scoop of vanilla frosting to the piping bag by scraping it off on the edge of the cup. On the other side of the cup, add a scoop of cherry frosting. Repeat this process until all the frosting is in the bag. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Garnish with a cherry on top if you’d like.
- Enjoy your cupcakes!
Notes
BOURBON BLACK FOREST CUPCAKES
Just as tasty as they look, these cherry-topped cupcakes are all sorts of yummy. From the bourbon cherry filling to the to-die-for vanilla and cherry frosting, you are in for one extra-special treat!
“These cupcakes include the classic and traditional flavors of Black Forest Cake–chocolate, cherry, and vanilla–but are also dressed up with bourbon! The base for these little cakes is a moist and easy chocolate cake recipe. The cupcakes are then hollowed out and filled with bourbon cherry filling. You can use a store-bought jar of pitted, stemless cherries, which is what I did, or you can use fresh cherries and pit them yourself. The filling is almost like a homemade jelly, and a couple of tablespoons of it goes into the cherry frosting as well. Swirled frostings are so fun and easy to make, and they make for an impressive presentation!”