Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting Food

CHOCOLATE CHERRY FROSTING

Steps:

• In a mixer bowl, beat the butter for 2-3 minutes until it is creamy and almost white in appearance.
• Add in the powdered sugar, melted chocolate and 2 tablespoons of cherry juice until light and fluffy. (Add in additional juice, one tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is the consistency you like.)
• Gently fold in the drained chopped cherries (these should be well drained so that it doesn't add more liquid to your frosting).
• Frost on cupcakes, cakes, brownies or cookies.
• Refrigerate leftover frosting.

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
• Strain maraschino cherries over a large measuring cup. Count out 24 cherries with their stems intact and set aside on paper towels. Remove stems from the remaining cherries and place one in the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
• Stir cherry-flavored brandy into the cherry juice. Add more brandy or water to total 1 1/4 cups liquid. Pour liquid into a bowl.
• Add eggs and oil; beat with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined. Add cake mix and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Evenly divide batter among the muffin cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool in the tins for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 50 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the frosting. Combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. Add vanilla extract and salt; beat for 1 minute more. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Add additional powdered sugar if frosting is too thin.
• Frost each cupcake and garnish with the reserved cherries.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, water, oil and eggs; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. , Spoon batter by 1/4 cupfuls into paper-lined muffin cups. Place a rounded teaspoonful of pie filling in the center of each cupcake. Set remaining pie filling aside. , Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , Frost cupcakes; top each with one cherry from pie filling. Garnish with chocolate curls if desired. Refrigerate remaining pie filling for another use.

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For filling, in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and 1/2 teaspoon salt until combined. Fold in chocolate chips; set aside., In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and remaining sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk the water, oil and vinegar; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. , Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter. Drop filling by heaping tablespoonfuls into the center of each. Bake at 350° for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For frosting, in a large mixing bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, cocoa, butter, milk and vanilla; beat until blended. Frost cupcakes; sprinkle with pecans. Store in the refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE-OREO®-BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two 12-cup muffin tins or line cups with paper liners.
• Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Whisk in white sugar and brown sugar.
• Beat eggs, water, and vanilla extract together in a separate bowl. Add sour cream and oil and beat well. Add egg mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture and mix well until no dry spots remain. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place cream cheese and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and cream together until smooth. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add confectioners' sugar and mix on medium-low speed; whip into a firm consistency, 2 to 5 minutes. Frosting will thicken as you whip. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time to thin if necessary.
• Crush whole cookies into crumbs in a food processor. Mix cookie crumbs into frosting using a rubber spatula. Chill frosting in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before piping onto cooled cupcakes.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MALT SHOP CUPCAKES W CHERRY-VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. line 2 regular 12- cuo tins with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until well blended.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, malted milk powder, and espresso powder. Add the canola oil and eggs; whisk to blend. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixature and beat until smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined. Stir in the minature chocolate chips.
• Divide the batter among the prepared cupcake tins, filling only halfway full. Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 17 minutes, until they spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean.
• While the cupcakes bake, prepare the buttercream. In the bowl of an electris mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and the butter on medium-low speed until well blended. Add the vanilla and whipping cream and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light, spreadable and fluffy. Beat in the cherry preserves until well incorporated.
• When the cupcakes have finished baking, let sit in the pans for 2 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to the wire racks to cool for 10 minutes more.
• While the cupcakes cool, transfer the buttercream to a patry bag fitted with a large star tip. Alternatively, you can frost the cupcakes with a knife or offset spatula. When th ecupcakes have cooled, pipe the buttercream on decorativve swirls on top of the cupcake ( or swirl with a spatula ). Garnish on top of each cupcake with a malted milk ball or cherry and serve.

DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH CHERRY BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Line 24 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners.
• In a medium saucepan, combine butter, chopped chocolate, and cocoa powder.
• Cook over med-low heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth; cool for 15 minutes.
• In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs at high speed with a mixer until thick and pale.
• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
• Gradually add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
• Stir in butter-chocolate mixture.
• Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool in pans for 10 minutes.
• Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
• Meanwhile, make buttercream--in the top of a double boiler, whisk sugar and egg whites until combined.
• Cook over simmering water until mixture reaches 140° on a candy thermometer; do not stir.
• Immediately pour mixture into the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer.
• Beat at high speed for 10 minutes; decrease speed to med-low.
• With mixer running, add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating just until combined after each addition.
• Add cherry-flavored syrup, beating until combined.
• Keep buttercream at room temperature until ready to frost cupcakes.
• Pipe or spread Cherry Buttercream over cupcakes.
• Store, covered, in refrigerator up to 5 days.