Friday, January 16, 2009

Cherry Chip Cupcakes

When I was a little girl I always thought the most tempting cake mix on the shelves of the grocery store was the Cherry Chip. That pale, pink cake with those sweet, bright pink flecks in it, what little girl could resist. I know now as an adult that there was no cherry in those cupcakes at all instead there is something called cherry flavored pieces (pieces of what I'm not sure). So, I decided to use some of the dried cherries I got for Christmas to create my own Cherry Chip Cupcakes.
Cherry Chip Cupcake
Now these don't have the hot pink flecks of the store bought mix but the chopped cherries add a great flavor to each bite. I added a little pink food coloring to make them a little girlie but you can totally leave that out & just have a white cake.
Cherry Chip Cupcakes
I had planned on frosting these with a vanilla bean buttercream but after we tasted one without frosting we decided a cream cheese frosting would be even better.

Cherry Chip Cupcake
(adapted from Martha's Stewart Coconut Cupcake)

1/4 c dried cherries, chopped
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
6 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c + 1 T  sugar
1/4 vanilla bean
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 c buttermilk
pink food coloring (optional)
2 large egg whites


Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 6 - 8 muffin tins.

Place chopped cherries in a bowl & cover with very hot water. Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes to soften. Drain & set aside.
In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder & salt. 
In a large bowl cream together butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean & add to butter mixture. Add vanilla & beat. On low speed, add half the flour mixture until just blended. Add milk until blended. Add remaining flour & mix until just blended. Blend in food coloring if you wish.
In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff, glossy peak appear, about 2 minutes. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg into the batter until combined. Add remaining egg & fold until combined. Fold in the chopped cherries.
Divided equally among the muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz cream cheese
2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 t vanilla

Blend the cream cheese & butter together until light & fluffy. Bend in sugar & vanilla.

Makes 6 -8 cupcakes


14 comments:

  1. How fun! That pink color is very appealing, the kid in me still loves it :).

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  2. OMG, that is utterly enticing. love the color and the texture. Beautiful.
    Cheers,
    Elra

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  3. Yum, these look so good!

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  4. Your cupcakes look great ~ they would be excellent for Valentine's Day!

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  5. Lowen would love these! Will have to make them for her. Colour is fab

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  6. aww how cute! Love the little flower on it.

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  7. I think maybe little girls are the market for this cake because I too thought they were too cool. I think I need to make something like this for my daughters birthday.

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  8. these are stupendous! everything from the color to the bits of vanilla bean and cherries make this completely unique and wonderful. nicely done.

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  9. I love how really girly these look. I can see a myriad of uses for them - so pretty.

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  10. My boyfriend is super annoying because all he ever wants is chocolate chip cookies (he doesn't seem to see the fun of making eggnog cheesecake or thumbprint cookies or any of the other dozens of recipes I love trying). And when I asked him what kind of cake/cupcakes I should make he said "cherry chip!" (my answer being that I refuse to use cake mix...) I can't wait to try these cupcakes and see if he'll actually get excited about something other than chocolate chip cookies!

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  11. I love cherries in anything and I'm definitely a sucker for cream cheese icing, these sound great!

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  12. Growing up, I'd always ask for a cherry chip cake with 7 minute frosting. I should try this grown up version!

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