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black forest cupcakes
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Black Forest Cupcakes Recipe

Moist chocolate sponge soaked with boozy cherry goodness, filled with dark cherries in an amaretto syrup, and topped with fresh whipped cream.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time22 minutes
Total Time37 minutes
Servings: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 188g
  • ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder 65g
  • 1 ½ cups Granulated Sugar 300g
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • ½ cup Vegetable Oil 113g / 120ml
  • ¾ cup Whole Milk 180g / 180ml
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • ⅓ cup Hot Water 80g / 80ml

For the Cherry Filling

  • 1 can Sweet Pitted Dark Cherries* 15 oz / 425g
  • ½ cup Cherry Brandy* 120ml (optional)
  • ¾ cup Amaretto* 180ml (optional)
  • 3 tablespoon Granulated Sugar

To Decorate

  • 3 cups Whipping Cream 720g / 720ml
  • ½ cup Powdered Sugar 60g
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • Chocolate Curls to decorate
  • 18 Fresh Cherries
Cups - Grams

Instructions

Make the Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C and prepare line a muffin pan with cupcake cases
  • Sift all the dry ingredients for the cake into a large bowl and stir together
  • Add the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla and mix everything together until it is combined and there are no lumps.
  • Add the hot water and continue to mix until totally incorporated.
  • Pour batter into cupcake cases, the cases should be about ¾ full.
  • Bake for 22 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Make the Cherry Soak and Filling

  • Pour the can of cherries and all the liquid into a saucepan and heat over medium heat.
  • Bring to a boil and let it bubble for about 3 minutes, then add the cherry brandy and amaretto (or alcohol substitutes - see blog post).
  • Let bubble for another minute, then siphon off most of the liquid into another container, leaving cherries and a little liquid in the saucepan (about ¼ cup).
  • Taste test the liquid you took out of the pan and add more alcohol if desired, leave to cool.
  • Add sugar to the cherries and stir. Continue to boil until the liquid is reduced to a thicker, more syrupy texture.
  • Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. It's even better if you can leave them overnight to soak up the flavor.

Make the Whipped Cream

  • Whip cream with a stand mixer or electric whisk until it begins to stiffen.
  • Add icing sugar and vanilla and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Assemble and Decorate

  • Core out the middle of the cupcakes using either a cupcake corer or a spoon.
  • Soak the cupcakes with the cherry soak. You can either spoon it, pour it or brush it on. It's best to do this over a baking tray as they may leak a little.
  • Let the liquid soak in for a minute, then soak them all again - you want to be generous with the flavor here! (About 1-2 tablespoon per cupcake).
  • Take the cherries in syrup and put one or two into the core of each cupcake with a little syrup.
  • Top cupcakes with whipped cream - you can use a piping bag as I did, or you can just spoon it on for a more rustic look.
  • Top with some chocolate shavings and a fresh cherry (remember to remove the stone from the cherries!).

Notes

Alcohol-Free Version

If you would prefer to make Black Forest Cupcakes without alcohol, you can replace the alcohol with a few pumps of cherry coffee syrup and almond coffee syrup instead. Add this into the cherry juice (if using canned cherries) or the water if using fresh or frozen. 

What kind of cherries should you use?

The short answer here is - whatever you can get your hands on. Most supermarkets have cans of pitted cherries, which are ideal. They should say 'sweet dark cherries' or something along those lines. But as we are going to turn them into a delicious Black Forest Cupcake filling, you can also use frozen cherries or even fresh ones. Just don't use maraschino cherries (the bright red ones in a jar). They should definitely be dark cherries - preferably sweet, not sour.
If you are using frozen cherries: You will just need to add about 1 cup of water and ⅓ cup of sugar to your cherries when adding them to the saucepan and heat them for longer. You want the cherries to be very soft and starting to look a little mushy before removing the liquid.
If you are using fresh cherries: Start by pitting the cherries and removing any stalks. Then add them to the saucepan with 1 cup of water and ⅓ cup sugar and continue the recipe as normal.