Cherry Almond Cupcakes
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Cherry Almond Cupcakes are the perfect marriage of sweet, nostalgic flavors. Sweet cherry, smooth almond, airy cake, and lick-able frosting will have these cupcakes flying off the plate—especially for a Valentine’s Day dessert or birthday party treat.Â
The cherry and almond flavors were just meant to be together, right? Especially in cupcake form. Their tempting, nutty, and fruity pairing makes for dessert royalty. Straight cherry can be a little too sweet, but the addition of almond flavoring gives this cupcake some sophisticated depth and smoothness. It’s a hit with adults and children alike!
Cherry Almond Cupcakes
Can we talk about how PRETTY these cupcakes are? I’m a sucker for any kind of cupcake (they’re just so cute!), but a shiny Maraschino cherry on top is just irresistible. They’re adorable for a birthday party, and I especially love a romantic cherry treat—making this the best Valentine’s Day cupcake recipe!
These cupcakes are completely and utterly divine! Their texture is so soft and delicate and the almond-cherry-flavored frosting just melts away in your mouth. They are reminiscent of the cherry chip cake you get at the grocery store, but they are much better than a box mix of course. These are some sweet, blissful cherry clouds (if you can only imagine what that would taste like). With a fluffy cake and a decadent almond and maraschino cherry flavor, you might just very well find these to be a new favorite cupcake.
Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
You can enjoy these cupcakes all year round, but I think they are particularly perfect for Valentine’s Day! They would be easy to whip up for a Valentine’s Class Party treat or sweet after-school snack. I’d serve them with fun pink strawberry milk and a note of what I love about them for a Valentine’s Day they’ll never forget. <3
Enjoy!
Follow Easy Cooking Zone
Cherry Almond Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 18 maraschino cherries , divided
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 large egg , at room temperature*
- 1 large egg white , at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 3 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice
Frosting
- 3/4 cup butter , at room temperature (I used 1/2 cup unsalted 1/4 cup salted)
- 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- Few drops red food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds, set aside. Cut 6 maraschino cherries into halves and set aside**.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg then add in egg white, almond extract and vanilla extract and blend until combined.
- In liquid measuring cup used to measure buttermilk, combined buttermilk with maraschino cherry juice. With mixer set on low speed, working in three separate batches beginning and ending with flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture and mixing just until combined after each addition.
- Divide mixture among 12 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 1/2 full. Place one cherry half in the center of each cupcake (it will sink to the bottom during baking). Bake in preheated oven 17 - 19 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean.
- Run a butter knife around edges to loosen cupcakes (unless yours didn't go to the edges like mine) and allow to cool in muffin tin 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely then pipe or spread Cherry Almond Frosting over tops. Store in an airtight container. Top each cupcake with a maraschino cherry just before serving.
- For the frosting: In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter on medium-high speed until very pale and fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl (if you have the beater blade paddle scraper attachment, about 5 minutes).
- Add in powdered sugar, 1 1/2 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice and almond extract. Blend on low speed until combined, then add food coloring if desired and additional cherry juice to thin as desired (adding 1 tsp at a time), and increase speed to medium-high and whip until pale and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes longer (about 4 minutes with scraper attachment).
Notes
- *To bring my eggs to room temperature I usually always just let them rest in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
- **These will later be placed in cupcake batter. If they're small you can use whole ones but make sure you'll have enough to top the cupcakes, you'll need 24 total if using whole cherries.