Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

Madai of Leather&Pearl asked me to write a guest post for her blog, so I decided to do a recipe post and chose to bake these delicious cherry vanilla cupcakes! Please head on over to her blog today to check it out. :)

One of my favorite things about baking is using seasonal ingredients. Pumpkin in the fall, peppermint in the winter...now that it's summer and there are so many fresh fruits available, I really wanted to make a cupcake with cherries! 

I took a basic vanilla cupcake, filled it with a homemade cherry puree and topped it with a vanilla buttercream with a bit of freshly squeezed cherry juice. The flavor combination was light, fruity and slightly sweet, making it a perfect summer dessert.

They were easy to make but were a tad time consuming due to the cherry chopping, juicing and puree-ing. Important note: cherries leave permanent stains, so make sure to change into clothes you don't care about before baking these!

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes
makes 14 cupcakes

For the cupcakes...

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line your cupcake pans with 14 liners
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of your standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar together for 4-5 minutes, until it's light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the vanilla extract.
6. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the bowl of your standing mixer, followed by half of the milk. Mix until well incorporated. Repeat until all ingredients are well mixed.
7. Scoop the batter into the liners with a 1/4 cup measuring spoon. Fill almost to the top.
8. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

For the filling...

• about 35-40 cherries, chopped and pitted
• 4 tablespoons of sugar

1. While the cupcakes are baking, throw the cherries and sugar into your food processor and pulse until well mixed and thick.
2. Store in the refrigerator until the cupcakes have cooled.
3. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, use a cupcake corer to make holes in the center of each cupcake.
4. Using a small spoon, carefully fill the centers up with the puree until it reaches the top.

For the frosting...

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4-5 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed cherry juice

1. To get the cherry juice, throw a bunch of cherries (about half a bag) with the stems removed into your blender (or food processor if you don't have a blender.) It's okay to leave the pits in.
2. Puree/pulse the cherries for a few minutes. It will be really loud because of the pits!
3. Strain out the juice with a mesh sieve - it will catch all of the cherry bits and pits so you are left only with juice. Save 1/4 cup for your frosting, and drink the rest! ;)
4. Now, on to the buttercream. Beat the butter in the bowl of your standing mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Add the vanilla extract and cherry juice until well combined.
6. Beat in the confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency. Then beat an additional 3-4 inutes.
7. Fill up a piping bag, frost away and top with a cherry!