Sour Cream Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting

Sour Cream Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting

I made these cupcakes for a friend who had been out of town for several months. She loves all things cherry, and asked if I could make her some vanilla cupcakes with cherry frosting. I was happy to do it for her. She loved them.

I ended up making  sour cream cupcakes. Something less sweet, and a little denser than most cupcakes. Almost like a pound cake in texture. It was an experimental recipe, so I was glad they turned out the first time.

When it came to the frosting, I already had a recipe I liked, and had made before. I just added a few cherries, finely chopped, since I had some on hand. I thought they would add a little texture to the frosting.

There was an issue with the color of the frosting.  Pure cherry flavoring is clear, so the frosting was not going to turn pink. It didn’t have to be pink, but I thought my friend would like pink frosting better.

I decided to add some beet powder- to add natural color to the frosting. I started out adding about ½ a teaspoon of the powder. I ended up using a little more before I got the shade I liked. Probably a couple of teaspoons, before I was done. The beet powder tinted the frosting a lovely color. It also left little flecks of darker beet color in the frosting. I really liked the way the frosting looked. The beet powder did not affect the taste of the frosting.

You can leave the frosting un-tinted, or use food coloring, if you don’t have beet powder lying around.

Sour Cream Cupcakes

1½ c. sugar

1 c. butter, softened

3 eggs

1 T. vanilla extract

2¼  cups all-purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

1 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 24 paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the sour cream until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes. Cupcakes are done when they springs back to the touch. Makes 24.

Cherry Vanilla Butter Cream

1 cup butter, softened

4 ½-5  c. sifted confectioners’ sugar

5 or 6 cherries, chopped fine*

1 ½  t. vanilla extract

1 ½  t. pure cherry flavoring

1- 2 t. beet powder or  a few drops of pink food coloring, optional**

In a bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar, beating well. Add the cherries and flavorings and gradually beat in remaining sugar. Beat for several minutes, until frosting is creamy and spreadable. Add beet powder or food coloring, if you like, and beat until smooth. Enough frosting for 24 cupcakes or a two layer cake.

*I had a jar or cherries and used a few of them in the recipe, for texture and flavor. Almost any cherry would work- fresh, canned or Maraschino.

**Since I have a dehydrator, I happened to have dehydrated beets at some point. I later powdered up the dried beets. I use the beet powder as a natural food coloring.  I understand that most people don’t have beet powder lying around. You can buy it online, or use artificial coloring for the frosting. You can also leave the frosting whatever color it ends up- sort of an off white. It will taste yummy, no matter what color it is. The pure cherry flavoring I use is clear. It adds flavor, but no color, to the frosting.