Cherries and Cupcakes

Cherry Cupcakes

It's cherry season and boy do I love cherries. Every year, at this time, I buy more than I can eat safely, and Alex and I gorge ourselves.

My mother-in-law tells me "Cherries make you cheerful". And they do. Did I mention I love cherries. Happy Dance!

This all leads me to Tuesday and a co-worker of mine bringing in a large crate of cherries. Her husband is an organic fruit buyer. Of course I take more than my share. Not that anyone was complaining since I seem to bring then lots of goodies that I make. But, what to do with all of these cherries.

Lets start with some cherry cupcakes adapted from One Perfect Bite. This recipe is great, it incorporates a couple of the random flours that I have been accumulating over the past six months and it's chocolaty. However, this might be the last sweet thing I make for a while, hubby is determined that we go on a diet. We'll see how long that lasts. The next cherry recipe will be savory.

Ingredients:

Cake

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1-1/2 cups chopped pitted cherries

Frosting

• 6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 /2 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1 cup packed confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners.
• Whisk whole-wheat flour, cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
• Beat granulated sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined.
• Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined.
• With mixer on low, alternately mix in dry ingredients and buttermilk, starting and ending with dry ingredients and scraping sides of the bowl as needed, until just combined.
• Fold in chopped cherries until just combined.
• Divide batter among prepared cups (they will be full).
• Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sour cream and confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
• Refrigerate frosting until very cold, about 2 hours.
• Garnish with a cherry on top.
• Yield: 12 cupcakes.

Please share with me some of your ideas about what to do with the rest of the cherries. I'd hate for them to go bad because I couldn't eat them fast enough.

Bon Appétit

D

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