About a week ago I was hired to bake 200 cupcakes. Yep, 200 cupcakes. It wouldn’t have been such a challenge if they were the same cupcake that utilized the same ingredients… but nope, they were all different. The wedding couple had specific requests as to what flavors they wanted and I accommodated them with four outstanding flavors!
Leading up to the big bake day, I scoured Pinterest and Food Network for only the best recipes. I even tested out a few which didn’t work and needed to be modified. When the final day arrived, I was ready with four flavors to satisfy every mouth. The best part of this is that I am sharing the recipes with you!
First up is Cherry Almond.
I baked with a similar Cherry Almond cupcake recipe about a year ago and my only complaint was the frosting. I ended up finding a new recipe from Better Homes and Garden. I am a big advocate of frosting being perfect and full of height– that’s part of the presentation. Since I also wanted that extra touch of perfection, I went and bought Wilton cupcakes piping tips for the star-tip. It was around $5-6 for three tips and seven bags. You can also use my strategy of a ziplock bag and cutting the tip (about half an inch) to pipe the frosting. Before I had the metal tips, cutting ziplock bags were my go-to for piping.
Cherry Almond Cupcakes (serves 24)
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 1/2 Butter
- 4 Egg Whites
- 2 Cups of Flour
- 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 1/3 Cup Maraschino Cherries Juice
- 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
- 12 Maraschino Cherries, diced (for cake batter)
- 12 Maraschino Cherries, halved (for garnish)
Frosting
- 1/2 Cup Butter, softened
- 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
- 1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F, and line 24 muffin cups (or more) with liners.
- Rinse cherries off in a strainer and allow to air-dry on a paper towel or cutting board. Wet cherries will result in dripping over frosting, which is not pretty.
- Leave out butter and eggs to reach room temperature.
- Use a medium bowl to whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- In a small bowl, combine buttermilk and cherry juice.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamed. Add sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and eggs. Alternately add flour and buttermilk mixture to beaten mixture on low speed. Stir in diced cherries to the mixture.
- Fill lined muffin tins 2/3 full. Make sure batter evens out.
- Bake for 15-18min, or until batter springs when lightly touched. It took me about 20-25min, but I also had three tins in the oven because I doubled the recipe. Cool cupcakes for 3-5min, and then transfer to cooling rack or counter to completely cool.
- While cupcakes cool, make the frosting. In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter until creamed. Gradually add 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat in cherry juice and almond extract. Beat three more cups, and more until desired stiffness is achieved. I used a total of 5 1/2 cups. If you made it too stiff, add a splash of cherry juice or milk.
- If it’s your first time piping, you will want to twist the bag and make sure as little as air is in the bag. Apply firm pressure and practice designs into frosting bowl. When confident, practice on cupcake. If you don’t love the design, you can always lightly scrape the frosting and try again.
- After piping to your favorite style, garnish with half of a cherry. Lightly press into the frosting.
- Enjoy your fabulous, pink cupcakes!
These were Alex’s and my favorite cupcakes! They were also the ones everyone was most excited about on my Instagram and Snapchat. Next week I will share with you another cupcake flavor I used. Stay tuned and follow me for previews!
Instagram: happilypinkblog
Snapchat: natalie_jean89
