Black Forest Cupcakes

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

Please welcome Danielle from Live Well Bake Often as she shares this Black Forest Cupcake recipe! Be sure to check out her delicious blog for me! -Tessa

When I was growing up, my grandmother used to always bake a black forest cake for birthdays.  Although my family tends to celebrate birthdays with a cheesecake now days, black forest cakes have always held a special place in my heart.  So, I decided to transform her favorite cake into these adorable Black Forest Cupcakes.

I’ve made a lot of cupcakes, from lemon raspberry to pumpkin, but these Black Forest Cupcakes are one of my favorite creations so far.  Everything is made completely from scratch, even the cherry pie filling in the middle!

The base of these Black Forest Cupcakes starts with my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.  Not only are the cupcakes soft and light, but they stay moist for days.  Can you tell from the picture how moist the cupcakes turn out?  Seriously, so good.  Once they’re baked and cooled, you’ll cut out the center and fill each one with some cherry filling.

Speaking of that cherry filling?  Making your own cherry pie filling at home is easy and it tastes a million times better than anything you can get out of a can.  In fact, I had my husband taste test the filling and he absolutely despises cherry filling from a can.  The verdict?  He actually really liked it!  I think you will too.

I used sweet red cherries in the filling, since I wanted to top the cupcakes with them as well.  You can easily use another type of cherry in this recipe, just adjust the amount of sugar to your personal preference.

One thing to note is that you’ll need to slice the cherries in half before measuring them out and making the filling.  I felt like the smaller pieces of cherries worked much better to fill the cupcakes, since some cherries can be kind of large.

Also, you will need to pit the cherries.  Does anyone else absolutely hate pitting cherries?  I don’t own a cherry pitter, but I actually use a sturdy plastic straw.  Just push the straw up through the center of the bottom of each cherry and it will remove the pit and stem.  So easy!

Lastly, there’s the homemade whipped cream.  There is some unflavored gelatin in the whipped cream recipe, but it’s just there to stabilize the whipped cream.  Have you ever noticed that whipped cream can sometimes fall flat after so long?  The gelatin helps to prevent that and keeps the piped whipped cream on top of your cupcakes perfectly in place for days.

If you don’t have any unflavored gelatin or prefer not to use it, you can simply leave it and the water out of the whipped cream recipe.  The whipped cream won’t hold up as long, but it will still taste just as good.  Enjoy!

4.77 from 13 votes

How to make

Black Forest Cupcakes

Yield: 16 cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

These Black Forest Cupcakes feature soft, light, and moist chocolate cupcakes with a cherry filling and are topped with a homemade whipped cream.

Ingredients

For the chocolate cupcakes:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

For the cherry filling:

• 2 cups pitted and halved sweet cherries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the whipped cream:

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 1 and 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

To make the chocolate cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-count cupcake pans with 16 cupcake liners and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined. Add in the oil, egg, vanilla extract, and buttermilk and mix until just combined.
3. Add the instant espresso powder into the boiling water and mix until dissolved, then add to the mixing bowl. Mix with the rest of the ingredients until well combined, making sure not to over mix the batter. The batter will be thin, this is okay.
4. Evenly distribute the batter between all 16 cupcakes liners, making sure to only fill them a little over half way full. Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

To make the cherry filling:

1. Add the cherries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, water, and corn starch to a saucepan and mix until well combined. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool.

To make the whipped cream:

1. Pour the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin on top. Allow to sit for a few minutes. Transfer to the microwave and microwave for a few seconds until the gelatin has dissolved. Stir well and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, add the heavy whipped cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla and mix on medium speed until it starts to thicken. Turn the mixer to low, slowly pour in the gelatin, then continue mixing at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.

To make the cupcakes:

1. Once the cupcakes and cherry filling have cooled, use a knife to cut out a hole in the center of each cupcake. Scoop about 1-1.5 tablespoons of the cherry filling into each cupcake. Then pipe the whipped cream on top. Garnish with chocolate shavings and a cherry on top!

Recipe Notes

Chocolate cupcakes adapted from Hersheys and Stabilized Whipped Cream adapted from Food.com

Course : Dessert

Cuisine : American

Recipe by Danielle Rye

Author: Danielle Rye

Danielle is a self-taught baker and the blogger behind Live Well, Bake Often. She loves spending time in the kitchen creating new recipes to share with her readers as well as sharing tips to help them along the way. When she's not in the kitchen baking, she's usually spending time with her husband and three dogs.