Light and fluffy cherry almond cupcakes are bursting with maraschino cherries. They are topped with luscious homemade buttercream frosting.
Cherry almond cupcakes have a perfect balance of almond and cherry. They’re the perfect cupcake for all of the sweethearts in your life! You will definitely want to add these to your must-make Valentine list, along with Valentine Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Covered Strawberries.
Cherry Cupcakes
Natalie, from Life Made Simple shared this uber tasty cherry almond cupcakes, and boy is my mouth watering! I’m a HUGE fan of almond extract, and these cupcakes look amazing.
They’re packed full of maraschino cherries which gives them that pretty pink tint. Don’t you think they’d be perfect for Valentine’s Day?!
Cherry-almond is one of my husband’s favorite flavor combos. So I thought it would be fun to come up with a cupcake version for him! They not only look adorable, but they taste amazing. He is definitely a fan!
Cupcake batter
PREP. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard cupcake pan with 16 liners, set aside.
WET INGREDIENTS. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the almond extract.
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. .
COMBINE. In a glass measuring cup mix together the buttermilk, cherry juice and chopped cherries. With mixing speed on low, alternate dry and wet ingredients, mix until batter is smooth and homogeneous (being careful not to over mix).
EGG WHITES. In a medium size mixing bowl (using a hand mixer), beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the batter.
BAKE. Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each ¾ of the way full. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (about 25 minutes).
Frosting
BEAT. While cupcakes are cooling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine butter, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Beat until fluffy (2-3 minutes).
CREAM. With mixing speed on low, add heavy cream, then gradually add ½ c. powdered sugar at a time until the mixture becomes soft but firm enough to hold it’s shape. Beat frosting for an additional 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Note: If the consistency is too thick, add a little more cream and beat for 30 seconds more. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes, decorate with crushed almonds or cherries if desired.
Recipe Tips
- If you don’t have a piping bag to pipe the frosting, you can use a ziploc bag and cut off one of the bottom corners to squeeze the frosting on.
- Follow our recipe here to make your own buttermilk
- To make a cake instead use a 9×9 cake pan. Add a few minutes to the bake time and watch for done-ness.
- You do not need to use food coloring. Use the cherry juice to give the cupcakes their beautiful pink color!
Storing Tips
TO STORE the cupcakes after they have been frosted, lightly cover them and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you are storing them for longer than 2 days, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will last in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
To make these ahead of time, wrap the unfrosted cupcakes in plastic wrap or place them in an airtight container and store for up to 2 days. They can be stored in the refrigerator or on the counter. Frost them the day they will be served.
To STORE the cupcakes longer than 7 days then you can definitely FREEZE them. Just let them cool completely and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and foil. Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then let them come to room temperature. Frost once they have thawed completely.
More cupcake recipes:
- Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
- Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
- Angel Food Cupcakes
- Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
Cherry Almond Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cake flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk plus 2 tbsp
- 3 tbsp maraschino cherry juice
- 8 maraschino cherries finely chopped
- 3 egg whites
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- pinch salt
- 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 3 1/2-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard cupcake pan with 16 liners, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the almond extract.
- In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a glass measuring cup mix together the buttermilk, cherry juice and chopped cherries. With mixing speed on low, alternate dry and wet ingredients, mix until batter is smooth and homogeneous (being careful not to over mix).
- In a medium size mixing bowl (using a hand mixer), beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the batter.
- Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each ¾ of the way full. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (about 25 minutes).
- While cupcakes are cooling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine butter, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Beat until fluffy (2-3 minutes).
- With mixing speed on low, add heavy cream, then gradually add ½ c. powdered sugar at a time until the mixture becomes soft but firm enough to hold it’s shape. Beat frosting for an additional 3 minutes until light and fluffy. If the consistency is too thick, add a little more cream and beat for 30 seconds more.
- Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes, decorate with crushed almonds or cherries if desired.
Such a perfect Valentine’s Day treat!! Thanks for sharing Natalie!
For more recipes from her, go visit her at Life Made Simple.
Yum – thank you.
Well if these are the prettiest cupcakes I ever did see!
So adorable! I want to try making these for my daughters play group this week!
I love cherry and almond together. Almond extract is my favorite thing! These cupcakes look adorable!
That is the most perfect swirl on those cupcakes!
That pink color is so cute, and the cherry almond flavor is spot on!
Great looking cupcakes. They almost look to cute to eat 🙂
Um, yes please! These look incredible! XO
I made these today. These were my 1st attempt at “from scratch” cupcakes – I like watching the “cupcake wars” show!! They definitely make it look easier on tv! Mine didn’t turn out as pretty as yours. I may have baked them a bit too long as they were slightly dry but not too bad. Mine are not as pink as yours. I like the cherries cut up inside and I think I would addmore of them the next time. I love the buttercream. Thx for sharing
You are so welcome!! Sounds like you did great! You’ll get the hang of it 🙂 Thank you!
Can I make it into a layer cake? Would I have to do anything differently?
I personally haven’t tried, but you could pour the batter in a couple round pans & do the frosting in between & on top. I would look on a cake box to see the difference in baking time between cupcakes & 2 rounds. Hope that helps!
Beautiful! How did you keep the cherries from bleeding onto the frosting?
Thank you! I usually just wipe the cherry juice off of the cherry as much as I can and put it on top of the cupcake right before serving. Hope this helps!