Fresh Cherry Cupcakes

Confession...I love cherry flavors in things, but rarely eat fresh cherries.  I think I just got it into my head that they're too much work.  The pit just seems to get in the way of enjoying them, so I stick to maraschino cherries or my favorite Cherry Garcia ice cream. Yum!

I decided for the What's Baking Challenge: Summer Fruits, that I'd try to tackle something with cherries.  What I found is that the pit isn't really that big of a deal.  Go out to your local farmers market and grab a quart to make these as soon as possible!

Fresh Cherry Cupcakes

from Baking Bites 
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup finely chopped fresh pitted cherries

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.
2) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Blend in the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract until smooth. Working in two or three additions, gradually mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with additions of buttermilk and ending with an addition of the last of the flour mixture.
4) Stir in chopped cherries.
5) Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack completely before frosting.

Quick Vanilla Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
16 whole cherries

Directions
1) Combine butter, milk, vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar in a medium mixing bowl and mix on high speed until smooth.

2) Gradually blend in remaining confectioners’ sugar until frosting reaches a creamy, spreadable consistency. Add additional sugar to thicken frosting if necessary.
3) Top each cupcake with frosting and a whole, fresh cherry.


My husband started at his new base this month, so I sent these in with him.  I loved that each bite had a lot of cherries in it.  I've had many cupcakes with maybe one piece of fruit in them and it takes away from the fruit and becomes more about the cake.  This recipe is great at highlighting the cherry.  My husband said these were gone before he even put the carrying case on the table.  Apparently military guys are easy to please. :)