Cherry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
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My obsession for maraschino cherries is at an all-time high this week. These maraschino cherry cupcakes with white chocolate frosting have me satisfied though. I love the sweet bits of maraschino cherries that are throughout the entire cupcake.
If you're looking for a gorgeous cupcake for a Valentine's Day party, these are the ticket.
I have something that I need to confess. After this photo shoot was over, I ate every single one of those cherries sitting on top of each pile of white chocolate frosting. Luckily, my husband isn't nearly as crazy about the cherries as I am so I got away with it.
If you really want to jazz up this recipe, you could use booze soaked cherries in the cupcakes and as cupcake toppers. That would liven up the party!
Make these. You'll love 'em.

Cherry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
Cherry Cupcakes
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup maraschino cherry juice
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ½ cup maraschino cherries chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
White Chocolate Frosting
- 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips
- 5 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 13 maraschino cherries with stems
- Red sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the butter and sugar. Mix on high until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla and eggs. Make sure to add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
- In a measuring cup, add the milk and cherry juice. Set aside.
- Sift the baking powder and flour in a separate bowl.
- Alternate adding flour and milk until combined. Start and end with flour. I normally add the flour in thirds and the milk in halves.
- Once completely incorporated, pour into cupcake liners. Fill the cups ¾ of the way.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 17 minutes or until done. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cupcakes and if it comes out with moist crumbs or clean, the cupcakes are done.
- Let the cupcakes cool and make the frosting.
Frosting
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add in white chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat 2 additional times or until the mixture is completely smooth. It will take a minute or two of stirring for the heavy cream and white chocolate chips to incorporate.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool until firm. It should take about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, work on putting the cake together.
- Once the ganache has firmed up, remove it from the fridge. If it's rock solid, it needs to sit out to take the chill off and loosen up or you'll burn out your hand mixer trying to mix it. You want it to hold it's shape, but not be super hard.
- Mix the ganache with a hand mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
- Add in the butter and continue to mix until incorporated.
- Add in the powdered sugar and milk and mix on low until the powdered sugar is almost incorporated. Turn the hand mixer on high and mix for an additional 2 - 3 minutes until the frosting is whipped.
- Place the frosting in a piping bag with a 1M tip. Swirl the frosting on top of each cupcake. Add a few red sprinkles and top with a stemmed cherry.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
What is your Valentine's Day looking like? Are you making dinner for a sweetheart and going out? I need to details!
Am I missing how many eggs to use?
Yes, it's fixed. I'm sorry about that!
Oh my goodness, those cupcakes are to die for. I would love to try my hand at baking these. Amazing
Thank you! They were the best!
I love cherries, and that frosting looks so rich and creamy! Yummy!
It was incredibly rich and creamy! Thank you, Pamela!
I love the idea of soaking the cherries in booze! 😉 I've actually thought about making my own maraschino cherries but I never got around to doing it. These cupcakes look amazing!
Thank you Karissa! I think I might play around with boozing up some cherries!
These are adorable! I really like the idea of boozy cherries in these, too.
Thank you, Jennifer! 😀
These cupcakes look so cute!! Beautiful photos!!
Thank you, Tiffany! I've been trying to up my photography game!
Holy gorgeous! I loveeee me some maraschino cherries so these cupcakes are right up my alley! Pinned!
Thank you, Meg!
These are looking so tasty! I love the photos also! Pinning and sharing this :).
Thank you!
These look sooo good! Too be honest, I am not a HUGE fan of the maraschino cherries, and I might substitute them with frozen cherries (since you can't find them fresh anywhere right now). They do look SO cute on top of these cupcakes though. And I might be tempted to try them as-is, too. You know, just to test and comapre 😉
Thank you! The more the merrier is what I say! lol
Love these! So pretty. Awesome photos too! 🙂
Thank you Susan! I love compliments <3