Chocolate Cherry

So- cupcake #1...

A few days ago, a friend of mine suggested that I make a chocolate cherry cupcake. I'm not usually one for fruit and chocolate, but I'm always up for a new recipe.

I was researching recipes and trying to figure out how to go about this cupcake. My favorite baking blog, The Cupcake Project, is my usual inspiration for cupcakes. After consulting her recipe index, I decided on a chocolate chip cherry cake with a cherry buttercream- instead of a black cherry cream cheese, because I didn't have fresh black cherries on hand.

In the end, the cupcake turned much better than I had expected. I altered the recipes from the Cupcake Project's and added my own notes to the recipe below. If you're unsure about chocolate and fruit like I am, you might enjoy this- the buttercream was sweet and light as a buttercream should be, while the cake remained fluffy with a stronger chocolate flavor. The cherry was very subtle, so it didn't taste overly artificial or sweet. 

Chocolate Cherry Cupcake:

2 c. flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1.5 stick butter @ room temp.

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 c. sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c. juice from maraschino cherries

1 c. chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

1)In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder

2)In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until well blended

3)Beat in the eggs, sour cream, vanilla and cherry juice into the butter mixture

4)Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture

5)Fold in chocolate chips

6)Bake at 350 degrees for app. 25 minutes

Cherry Buttercream Frosting:

1 stick butter @ room temp.

1 tbs vanilla extract

2 c. powdered sugar

10 whole maraschino cherries

1)Beat butter and sugar until it is creamed

2)Add vanilla and cherries- beat until cherries have been reduced to small pieces in the frosting