Cherry-Chip Cupcakes with Cherry Almond Buttercream Frosting

The Winter Olympics are well underway. Having been in Russia this past summer, I am even more excited about it. One of my favorite parts of the Olympics (I'm cool, I know ;) is watching all of the different countries walk in, during the opening ceremony. I love seeing the people of all of the countries I've been to, and reminiscing. It so cool to see the world come together, if only for a little while. 

I love the hockey (obviously) and the figure skating more than anything. When my sister and I were little, we would dress up our "skating outfits" and pretend we were figure skaters. We worked so hard to master our "jumps",  and would even pretend we were out of breath when our "scores" were being read. We even had medals for every event. Needless to say, we got REALLY into it. Seeing it now, reminds me of how much fun we used to have. 

Valentine's Day is almost here, and I figured it was time to make some cupcakes. I wanted do something different than the typical red velvet cupcake. I love cherry, and I happened to have some cherry flavored baking chips lying around the house. These cupcakes are sweet and light at the same time. I found another frosting recipe that I am currently obsessed with. If you want something fun an sweet for Valentine's Day, then here it is.

For the Cupcakes: Recipe adapted from: www.tasteofhome.com

Makes 24+ cupcakes

3/4 cup shortening 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon cherry oil 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 2-1/2 cups cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup cold water 4 egg whites 1/2 cup cherry baking chips find them: here

In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar
until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Beat in Extracts. In a separate bowl; combine flour, baking powder,  and salt.

Add to creamed mixture, alternating with water.
Beat until just combined.

In another bowl, beat egg whites on
 high speed until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

Stir in cherry chips

Pour into  greased and lined muffin tins 

Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

. 

Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans
to wire racks to cool completely.

For the Frosting: adapted from: http://thecakegirls.com

Makes: 9 cups of frosting

You will need: 

6 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar 

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 teaspoon cherry flavoring (I recommend Wilton)

1/2 cup boiling water 

2 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 

2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened and cubed into 1/2" pieces 

24 jarred maraschino cherries

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, stir together the sugar, salt almond extract, and cherry juice.

 Add the boiling water and whip on medium speed until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Continue to whip until the mixture is cool, about 10 minutes. (The mixture will look like liquid glaze).

 Add the shortening and butter and whip the mixture on medium-high, scraping the bowl down frequently, until doubled in volume. 10 to 15 minutes.

Put icing in a large piping bag with a coupler and desired tip (I used Wilton 2D). Swirl desired amount of frosting on each cupcake. Dust some sprinkles on cupcakes, and top each with a maraschino cherry.