Cherry Cupcakes

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It’s been so cold lately.   We haven’t had a lot of snow but we have had the cold weather.  That usually means I’m stuck inside because I can’t stand being cold.   Since I’m stuck in the house that means I had a lot of time to bake.  I also like to bake in the winter because it not only warms up the kitchen but it warms me up too!

Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner I’ve been looking for some fun dessert recipes.   I wanted to do decorated sugar cookies but they just take so long to do.  That means I turned to cupcakes or cake.   Sometimes I think these are even more impressive then the cookies and they are so much easier to make.

When I think Valentine’s Day I think pink or red so that’s the color cupcake I wanted to make.  I immediately nixed the idea of making something red velvet because I have a ton of red velvet recipes.  I mean I’ve made red velvet cupcakes, red velvet cake, red velvet donuts, and even red velvet cookies.  I’ve been there and done that.

While looking around I found these pretty and fun cherry cupcakes with maraschino cherries on top!  I thought they not only looked cute but would be fun too.  They start with a doctored cake mix.  That means they are semi-homemade but have my homemade frosting on top.

The cupcakes are a white cake mix mixed with cherry juice and white chocolate chips.   They turn out to be a pretty pink color studded with the white chips.  Then I whipped up a cherry vanilla frosting to go on top.  To make them more holiday friendly I topped them off with sprinkles and a maraschino cherry.

These cupcakes turned out great.  I loved the light pink color of the cake and the frosting and the light cherry vanilla flavor of them.  The sprinkles on top were fun and the cherry was definitely a favorite of all of my students at school.  I mean, who can resist a cherry on top?

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Cherry Cupcakes

Yield: 2 dozen

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

These semi-homemade cherry vanilla cupcakes topped with frosting, sprinkles, and a cherry are a fun Valentine's Day dessert!

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1 box white cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 c. maraschino cherry juice
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1 c. white chocolate chips

For the frosting:

• 3 sticks butter, softened
• 6 c. powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 3 Tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

For the top:

• 24 maraschino cherries
• Valentine's Day sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine the white cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, yogurt, cherry juice, and vanilla. Mix well for 2 minutes or until the batter is smooth. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
3. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 of the way full with the cupcake batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Cool completely on a wire rack.
5. To make the frosting place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix well.
6. Add in the vanilla, heavy cream, and cherry juice and mix for 1 minute.
7. Add in the remaining powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
8. Pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with the sprinkles and place a cherry on top of each one.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Lemon Sugar