Whipped Cream | A Taste of Morning

These light-textured chocolate cupcakes, served with whipped cream and cherries, are really fun for guests. An added bonus is that you can make the cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them until you have company. Just thaw, top with whipped cream, garnish and serve! Ready to start thinking about Valentine’s Day?

Black Forest Cake Cupcakes

Makes about 24

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. Dutch-process cocoa powder*

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. whole milk (or sour cream for a denser cupcake)

3 lg. eggs

2 t. cherry liqueur

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

1 c. granulated white sugar

1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. dried cherries, finely chopped

2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish

Sweetened whipped cream for topping

24 fresh dark sweet cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 12-muffin pans with muffin papers.**
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into medium size bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl, lightly beat together milk, eggs and cherry liqueur. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl.
On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Scrape sides. On medium speed, beat in 1/2 of wet ingredients. Scrape sides. Repeat, beating in 1/3 of flour mixture, remaining 1/2 of wet ingredients, and then remaining 1/3 of flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl in between.
Mix together chopped cherries and chocolate and then fold them into the cupcake batter.
Divide batter equally between muffin cups. Cups should be about 3/4 full.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until no wet spots appear on muffin tops and muffins are firm to the touch. Do not overbake.
Place muffin pans on baking racks for 15 minutes, then remove muffins, and place them on racks to finish cooling.
To serve, top with whipped cream, grated chocolate and a fresh cherry.

Enjoy!

* If you need to, you can substitute natural cocoa, but Dutch-process has better flavor in this recipe.

** I use plain white papers for baking, then slip the muffins into decorative papers or foils for serving.