Cherry Buttermilk Cupcakes with Cherry Buttercream Frosting
Cherry Buttermilk Cupcakes with Cherry Buttercream Frosting – These buttermilk cupcakes are loaded with tart cherry chunks then piled high with creamy cherry frosting.
Just kidding. As always, I’ve got plenty to say. Today we are discussing FLAT verses CURVY. Brace yourselves…
There are two kinds of cupcakes in this world, flat cupcakes and dome-shaped cupcakes. (What were YOU thinking we were talking about?)
Although the dome-shaped cupcakes are visually appealing, I’d like to make an argument for sad little flat cupcakes.
Cake batters that don’t rise as much are usually rich batters, heavy on butter. This is a good thing if making layer cakes. The layers are velvety with a small crumb, and very little has to be trimmed off the top to level them.
However with cupcakes, people seem to think of flat as a bad thing.
You could add more leavening and a little more flour to said cupcakes. That would give them the desirable dome-top, but alas, it would also mess up the brilliant silky texture that only GOOD buttery buttermilk cupcakes have.
So I say flat is a good thing. Dome-y cupcakes score points for appearance, but flat buttermilk cupcakes scored points for the texture… and isn’t what’s on the INSIDE more important?
As for bonus points, flat cupcakes allow more room for PILES of cherry frosting. In my opinion, a cupcake is only worth eating if it’s 2-parts cake to 1-part frosting. When the frosting is good, it needs to be celebrated.
Buttermilk Cupcakes with cherry chunks and dreamy Cherry Frosting are admittedly flat-ish, yet they are RICH, buttery and moist with a tart finish from the cherries and buttermilk. The Cherry Frosting has a secret little kick from Kirsch, a cherry flavored brandy. Hick!
These whimsical cupcakes are the perfect way to celebrate Valentines Day. Here I made festive edible toppers by piping melted colored candy melts into hearts on parchment paper. They harden in minutes and are easy to personalize. Instead of hearts, you could pipe LOVE, or even names. Think of the possibilities!
More Valentines Goodies
Valentines Trail Mix with Printable Tags
Chocolate Pomegranate Petit Fours
Heart Cake Pops ~ 52 Kitchen Adventures
Strawberry Almond French Toast ~ Savory Sweet Life
Salted Chocolate Caramel Squares ~ My Man’s Belly
Gluten Free Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes ~ Bella Nutella
Cherry Buttermilk Cupcakes with Cherry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
For the Buttermilk Cake:
- 3 cups cake flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups full-fat buttermilk
- 1/2 cup chopped frozen cherries
For the Cherry Frosting:
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 8 - 11 cups powdered sugar
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons Kirsch cherry brandy
- 1-4 drops red food coloring optional
Instructions
For the Buttermilk Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
- Mix the first four dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy—3-5 minutes.
- Add the egg, vanilla, cherries. Beat and scrape the bowl.
- Alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixture until batter in just combined. Scrape the bowl and mix again for just a moment.
- Use a small measuring cup to fill the paper liners just over 1/2 full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Cherry Frosting:
- Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and beat in the salt, vanilla and Kirsch. Now add the powdered sugar, a little at a time until the desired consistency is reached—8-11 cups. Add food coloring if desired.
- Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy.
Love buttermilk in cake, totally worth the flat tops, especially when topping with lots of frosting! These look fantastic. Making candy melt designs could be my part-time job…so much fun!
Ah buttermilk makes the world go round. These look delicious!
I love cherry chunks!! and they are beautiful and very attractive! thanks anyway for sharing 2 types of cupcakes, now I know is better to make flat cupcakes if you want to put frosting on it. thanks!
cheers
These are the cutest little things! And oh so perfect for Valentine’s Day, love them! :)
These look sooooo good! Buttermilk just makes everything better!
I want to make these for my sons class. I was wondering if you could use something other then the Kirch?
Michele,
You could use Cherry Juice–I’ve made them that way before and they were great. The Kirsch is just a little more powerful.
PS~ The teacher might appreciate a little Kirsch in the cupcakes on Valentines Day! ;)
Enjoyed this.
Plus, with a flat cupcake, you get more frosting!!
Believe it or not, I’ll take the flat cupcake without the piles of frosting. I love a good, tender cupcake. Not a huge frosting fan (unless it’s cream cheese). These are so adorable though. I think the hearts are brilliant.
What if you can only find low fat buttermilk???
Hey April,
If you can get whole milk, you can MAKE buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar and letting it sit for about 10 minutes.
So precious! And I don’t care if it’s flat or domed, just as long as it tastes good.
Yay for cherry vanilla:) Your cupcakes are super cute!
Oh my goodness, those are too pretty to eat!
These are so pretty!
Gorgeous! Love the cute hearts. I have candy melts in my pantry that I’m making chocolate hearts with. LOVE!!
oh my WORD. i love cherry vanilla anything and these are so cute!
Buttermilk is a magic ingredient!!!! Love these beautiful cupcakes. All of my cupcakes turn out flat..its my half broken oven with a nice gas leak..cant keep its internal temperature :(
And flat allows for more buttercream! These are simply delightful!