These chocolate cupcakes are filled with delicious cherries and are topped with a vanilla buttercream. I think I died and went to Heaven… For the record I tried to style these to look as appealing as possible for you but for my personal enjoyment I add a smear of buttercream on top and a pile of cherries in the middle.
About the Cherry reduction
- This cherry reduction is so simple and versatile! You can spoon this over ice cream, use as a cake filling, or modify to be a pie filling!
- For an awesome cherry buttercream try running a batch of this through the food processor and mixing into either the American buttercream from this recipe or a batch of ultra-creamy Swiss Meringue buttercream.
- I topped my cupcakes with a fresh cherry but they’re much easier to eat if you add some of the pitted reduced cherries to the top.
If you love cupcakes then check these recipes out!
Pro Tips For Making Chocolate cherry cupcakes
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired.
- Add a few tablespoons of cherry liqueur to the reduction for an added depth of flavor. You can burn off the alcohol while the mixture reduces or add it off heat for a spiked treat.
- Use an ice cream scoop to add the batter to the cupcake papers for evenly distributed batter with less mess!
- I like to use dutch processed coca as it’s less acidic and gives a bit fudgier, dark cupcake but natural processed will work too!
If you’ve tried this chocolate cherry cupcake recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
Rich chocolate cupcakes filled with a cherry surprise inside and topped with vanilla buttercream drizzled with cherry reduction!
Print Recipe
Servings 12 cupcakes
Calories 351kcal
Video
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 160g
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup sour cream
For the Frosting:
- 1 lb confectioner’s sugar
- 1 cup salted butter Room temp 226g
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp cream
For the Cherries:
- 2 cups cherries halved and pitted
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place cupcake papers in muffin tin
- Mix the milk, vanilla, and sour cream in a small bowl or cup and set aside.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy (this will take about three minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the milk/sour cream mixture and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until the ingredients are mixed together.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake papers within the tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
For the Cherries:
- Mix cherries, sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and the cherries are slightly softened.
For the Buttercream:
- Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add cream a bit at a time until desired consistency is reached.
For the Asembly
- Core the cupcakes. I use a cupcake corer but you can cut a small circle out with a knife too. Remove the center and keep the tops for later.
- Use a knife to spread some buttercream into the hollowed out cupcake. Add a cherry into the center then place cake cap on top.
- Pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake then drizzle with the cherry reduction.
- Top with a cherry and some of the reduction.
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don't have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired.
- Add a few tablespoons of cherry liqueur to the reduction for an added depth of flavor. You can burn off the alcohol while the mixture reduces or add it off heat for a spiked treat.
- Use an ice cream scoop to add the batter to the cupcake papers for evenly distributed batter with less mess!
- I like to use dutch processed coca as it's less acidic and gives a bit fudgier, dark cupcake but natural processed will work too!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 49.7g | Protein: 1.9g | Fat: 5.3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6.7mg | Sodium: 304mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 19.6g | Vitamin A: 235IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Have you Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @preppykitchen and tag #preppykitchen!
Hi John – Can you use frozen cherries to make the reduction?
until now I realized you can modify how much cupcakes you want to bake and the recipes just changes is just… thank you going to do this cupcakes tomorrow cant wait!!
Can these be made into mini cupcakes?
Kim,
These can absolutely be made into mini cupcakes! Let me know how it goes!
John
OBSESSED!
yum
Hi, I was reading your recipe and noticed that the recipe instructions reference coffee/buttermilk and melted chocolate but the ingredient list does not include these items…or did I just miss that somewhere? These look and sound AMAZING and can’t wait to try them! Thank you in advance
Hi Heather — I have updated the recipe. I apologize for the confusion! I hope this helps. Let me know how it comes out. Thanks, John.
I, too, am having difficulty with the instructions for the coffee/buttermilk mixture. It isn’t in the ingredient list and that step appears to be missing. I’m hoping to make these today. Could you kindly reply to this message to clarify?
This recipe got so out of whack for some reason! The update should clarify things. Should have read milk sour cream mixture. Sorry!!
How many does this recipe yield.
Hi Darlene — It depends on what pan you use. For the one I used, it yielded 12 cupcakes. Thanks, John.