Cherry Almond Cupcakes

A month or so before Clara's 4th birthday I started talking to her about what kind of cake she wanted and she consistently told me "cherry cupcakes!".  There was one day in there where she changed the request to blueberry cupcakes, but then went right back to cherry, so cherry it was. 

These cupcakes are actually an almond cupcake with fresh cherry frosting.  I found a lot of recipes for cherry cupcakes using maraschino cherries in the batter and frosting but I'm not a huge fan of maraschinos, especially in baked goods.  I'm glad I went with my gut on this and used fresh cherries instead, which are just coming into season in May.  I picked up some Brooks cherries (one of our favorite sweet varieties along with Rainiers) at the farmer's market on Thursday.

I thought I had chopped my cherries pretty well but I think I would go even farther next time and practically puree them to make the frosting to help release more of the juice because I feel like that is what caused the purple-pink liquid to seep out and ooze down the sides of the cupcakes.  They were still pretty but it just wasn't the effect I was going for.  Also, I would wait to add the cherry juice itself until after incorporating the chopped cherries and seeing how the frosting is holding up.  I might even try adding a cup of chopped cherries the almond cupcake batter as well and seeing how that would turn out, even though I loved the almond cupcake as it was. 

Cherry Almond Cupcakes (makes 18 cupcakes)

Cupcakes

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

1½ teaspoons almond extract

1 cup buttermilk

 

Fresh Cherry Frosting

 

1 cup butter, at room temperature

3½ cups powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and very finely chopped

 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl in between additions. Beat in the almond extract. Add one-third of the flour mixture, beat to combine, then half of the buttermilk. Add another one-third of the flour, the remaining buttermilk, then the remaining flour. Beat just until combined.

 

Fill the cupcake liners about ⅔ full of the batter. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, mixing until completely combined. Beat in the salt and the almond extract, then turn the mixer to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the cherries and any juices that may have accumulated. Beat on low until combined, then turn to medium-high and beat an additional 2-3 minutes. The frosting should be light and creamy and smooth.

 

Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes. Top with an additional cherry, if desired.