Fresh Cherry Cupcakes

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Fresh Cherry Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Buttercream

These fresh cherry cupcakes are made with fresh seasonal cherries. A light and fluffy butter-based vanilla batter infused with cherry puree and a hint of almond extract. Topped with a light and airy whipped cream buttercream swirl and fresh cherries. Perfect cupcakes to celebrate the cherry season.

A cupcake made from scratch with cherry puree and almond extract topped with fresh cherry — Cupcakes, Fresh Cherries, Homemade, From Scratch, Whipped Cream Buttercream.

This summer harvest brought in some really gorgeous stone fruits and berries. It's so difficult to pass by the grocer and not pick a bag of something fresh. I got a huge bag of cherries! So huge that the kids got to eat in plenty and we made a few other cherry treats like a cherry filling, cherry jam, and even my cherry cheesecake.

These cupcakes we made when Aadi had a few friends over to visit. All kids love cherries. Right? The little cherry hidden inside the cupcakes seemed to have gotten the kids all excited about the cupcakes. And of course, the girls, as usual, were fascinated with my buttercream swirl piping technique.

About these cherry cupcakes

The batter is a very simple butter-based vanilla batter. I often use this as a one-bowl vanilla cupcake batter. Almond is always a wonderful combination with cherries, so I added a hint of almond extract and, of course, fresh cherries that I pulsed in the blender. I wanted a smooth pretty pink cupcake interior so I passed the cherry thru a sieve. And yet, you can also leave it pulpy. Look at how light and airy the inside of that cupcake is?

A cupcake made from scratch with cherry puree and almond extract topped with cherry — Cupcakes, Fresh Cherries, Homemade, From Scratch, Whipped Cream Buttercream.

Let's talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)

Cherries - I am using fresh cherries for the cupcakes and topping but you could also use frozen cherries. Of course, instead of cherries perhaps a few candy sprinkles would work if you don't have fresh cherries on hand.
Butter - I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the quantity of sugar in my recipe. And yet, if salted butter is all you have, go ahead and use it. Just omit salt in the recipe.
Eggs - Always use large size eggs when baking unless specified. The size of eggs varies significantly these days, so as a guide one large egg weighs between 50 to 60 grams.
All-purpose flour - Yes, regular plain flour (maida) is all you need for these cupcakes. Do not use any self-raising flour as those contain more leavening.
Sugar - I prefer to use white sugar so it won't alter the color of my cupcakes. And yet, feel free to use the same amount of light brown sugar. I would not recommend using dark brown sugar.
Sour Cream - Gives the cake a soft crumb. If you don't get sour cream where you are, you can make sour cream at home. Here's how to make sour cream at home for baking. If you must you can also use yogurt.

Useful Tips and Tools

If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because often we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this buttercream go head and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet. And, you don't have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer works great too.
Having said that, a simple bowl, whisk and spatula with a little extra elbow grease will do too.
Personally, I believe in measuring ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scale one of the most valuable items when baking. The same goes for mymeasuring cups and measuring spoons. It's always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
Also, it is important to buy cupcake liners from a trustworthy source to prevent peeling. There is nothing worse than to bake good cupcakes or muffins and then have all the liners peel off.
Additionally, you can use a measuring cup to ensure you divide the batter evenly among all the cupcakes or muffins. That way all your cupcakes will be a similar size. Personally, I love using my cupcake scooper for that purpose.
A good baking tray is always important. Try using a light colored baking traybaking tray. Another option is to line the baking tray with parchment paper for easy clean up just in case of spillage.
Every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In case of muffins and cupcakes, it’s often a good idea to rotate the baking tray mid-way the baking so they cook and rise evenly.

How to make Fresh Cherry Cupcake (Save/Pin)

For the Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 160 C / 320 F.
Line muffin pan with cupcake liners or use baking cups.
Place half the cherries in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Pass through a sieve (optional). Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.
Next, add flour, sour cream, and blended cherries - and combine well.
Lastly, add the vanilla and almond extract.
Scoop batter into cupcake liners.
Drop a pitted fresh cherry in the center of each batter.
Bake on the center rack at 160 C / 320 F for about 20 to 25 minutes (mine took 20 mins).
Cook cupcakes completely before frosting.

Prepare Buttercream

Cream the butter for a minute until smooth.
Add half the sugar and fresh cream. And combine well.
Then add the second half of the powdered sugar - combine well.
Add vanilla and salt - and combine well.
Now, whip until you have a light and fluffy whipped cream consistency buttercream - about 5 minutes.

Piping the buttercream

Prepare a piping bag with a large star tip for piping.
Smear the piping bag on one side with raspberry red food color gel.
Place buttercream in the bag and secure the top.
Pipe a large swirl on the cupcake. The red food color gel will create a pretty red swirl effect as I have on these cupcakes.
Top with a fresh cherry.

12 Tips for baking perfect cupcakes every single time

Follow the recipe properly with minimum substitutions.
Always use good quality ingredients.
Make sure the ingredients are all at room temperature.
Never over-mix the batter.
Use a scoop for baking similar size cupcakes.
Always preheat the oven before baking - a hot oven works best for cupcakes.
Bake cupcakes at the right temperature.
Always bake cupcakes on the center rack one tray at a time.
Never open the oven during baking - no peeking.
Remove cupcakes from their pan no later than 7 to 10 minutes after baking.
Store cupcakes properly after baking. Place them in an airtight container at room temperature. Cupcakes dry in the fridge unless wrapped properly with plastic wrap.
Simple syrup the cupcakes if you don't plan to eat them on the same day.

Frequently asked questions

How to bake perfect cupcakes every single time?

Baking perfect cupcakes is not hard to achieve if you follow the above 12 tips for perfect cupcakes.

How to bake fluffy cupcakes?

Moist fluffy cupcakes are all about adding volume to your batter when mixing. Which means that knowing how to mix your batter is important.
Over-mixing the batter can collapse the cupcakes, thus taking away all that fluffiness. As a rule of thumb, cream butter and sugar until the sugar has almost melted - 2 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, and make sure each one is well incorporated.
Then, add the flour and liquid - but mix until just incorporated. It is easy to over mix at this stage.

How to prevent cupcakes liners from peeling after baking?

There are a few things you can do - we discussed it in this post -- how to avoid cupcake liners peeling after baking.

My cupcakes don't bake evenly. Why?

There are few things you can do to bake similar size cupcakes - we discussed that in detail here - How to bake same size cupcakes.

How do you cool cupcakes quickly?

You can place cupcakes in the fridge for a few minutes to cool them quickly. I like to place them for just 5 to 7 minutes in the freezer.
Never leave cupcakes in the fridge open for long as they will dry out.

What temperature is best for baking cupcakes?

I like to bake at 160 - 170 C, or 310 to 325 F, or Gas mark 2 - 3.
Depending on how hot your oven temperature is, cupcakes usually take between 18 to 22 minutes. If your cupcakes bake quicker than 18 minutes or longer than 22 minutes, it's probably best to check if your oven needs calibration.

What other frostings can I use instead of whipped cream buttercream?

Oh, these cupcakes are delicious with just about any frosting. I have shared with you more than 30 different buttercream flavors here on the blog but these are just a few suggestions.

Butter-based buttercream – simple all-purpose buttercreams like my velvet American buttercream, vanilla buttercream (eggless).
Decorators buttercream – often with all or some vegetable shortening to prevent the frosting from melting easily like my bakery style frostings – vanilla and chocolate frosting.
Cream Cheese based – made with cream cheese often with or without butter like my classic cream cheese is made with butter which adds more stability and my no-butter cream cheese frosting when you want a more luxurious dessert type frosting.
Meringue buttercream – made with the addition of whipped egg whites. Less sweet than the classic butter-based buttercream like my Swiss Meringue or Italian Meringue.
Egg-based buttercream – like the French Buttercream and German buttercream made with egg yolks then whipped to make a light and fluffy frosting with the addition of butter.
Whipped Cream Frosting – the lightest of them all is, of course, simple whipped cream. I shared 5 different methods to make whipped cream at home. As well as a whipped cream buttercream frosting.

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