Black Forest Cupcakes – Fresh black cherries are roasted in amaretto liquor and stuffed into a chocolate cupcake. The cupcake is then topped with fresh whipped cream and a chocolate-dipped cherry.

Cherry season is in full force! It’s one of my favorite times of the year because cherries are so flavorful and juicy and healthy so I’m chowing on them nonstop until they’re gone. Despite my love for them, however, I rarely bake with them. I don’t really know why – I just forget that this amazing stone fruit also tastes great in cakes and other desserts so they tend to get overlooked.

To take advantage of their bounty this time of year, I decided to make a cake that has long been on my list – Black Forest Cake. This is a chocolate cake layered with black cherries and whipped cream and more chocolate. Ever since seeing it on The Great British Baking Show, I have been dying to make this cake. It was on that show that I realized how delicious this cake could be, especially when made with fresh cherries.

For my version of this cake, I decided to make them into cupcakes. I also decided to use Amaretto liquor instead of the more traditional Kirsch liquor. I find Kirsch to taste too much like fake cherry that takes away from the natural flavor in the fresh cherries. But Amaretto, on the other hand, really enhances the flavor of fresh cherries so this switch was a no-brainer for me.

Now that I’ve teased you enough, let’s gawk at some Black Forest Cupcakes, shall we?

Why is it called “Black forest cake”?

Black forest cake originates in Germany, though the legend behind the cake differs depending on who you ask. The origin story I like says that the chocolate cake represents the forest and the red and white represent the traditional colors worn by the women of the Black Forest. How cute is that?

How are these cupcakes made?

These cupcakes are super simple to make, but they do require some time. There are three main steps required in making these cupcakes:

1. Making the cake
2. Filling the cupcakes
3. Topping the cupcakes

Making the cake

The cake is a traditional chocolate cake, made with cocoa powder. There is also coffee in the cake to really bring out the rich flavor of the chocolate. Once the batter is made, it’s scooped into cupcake liners and baked for 15 minutes.

Filling the cupcakes

The cupcakes are filled with a homemade cherry compote. Fresh cherries are cooked on the stovetop with sugar, cornstarch, and Amaretto until nice and thick. They’re then smashed into pieces to make them easier to fill in the cupcakes.

Once the cupcakes and the filling are cooled, it’s time to assemble the cupcakes. To do this, you remove the centers of the cupcake and spoon in the filling. But don’t discard the cupcake centers – you’ll use the crumbs for decoration later.

Topping the cupcakes

Finally, it’s time to top the cupcakes with freshly whipped cream. The whipped cream is just sugar and heavy whipping cream that is whipped to stiff peaks. It’s then pipped over the cupcakes with a round tip. To finish them off, I dipped a fresh cherry into chocolate ganache and placed it on top of the cupcake. I then sprinkled the finished cupcakes with those leftover cake pieces we reserved from earlier.

Tips & Tricks

1. Do not attempt to assemble the cupcakes until the cake has cooled completely. If you try to fill the cupcakes while warm, they could fall apart.
2. Make sure the cherry filling is also cool before adding to the cupcake. If it’s warm, it will melt the whipped cream topping, causing a big ‘ole mess.
3. Fresh cherries are necessary to achieve the best flavor. But if you’re making these out of season, you can use frozen cherries. No need to thaw them before cooking them.

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Roasted Cherry Amaretto Ice Cream

Cherry Hand Pies

Tiramisu Cupcakes