Cherry Almond Cupcakes

If dessert isn't a food group, it should be because I eat multiple servings of it every day!  I love desserts of all kinds, but cake is probably my very favorite.  Okay, so it's the frosting more than the cake itself, but cake makes a great platform for transporting the frosting to my face!  Sure you can make a pretty good cake from a box mix, but homemade is really not hard at all and only takes a few extra minutes.  This recipe has a unique cherry almond flavor that can't be found in a box of Betty Crocker and sshhh, don't tell anyone, but it's actually really good even without the frosting!

Cherry Almond Cupcakes

Prep time: 45 min  Bake time: 20 min
Makes 24 cupcakes

1/2 cup butter
4 egg whites
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk*
1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp almond extract
12 maraschino cherries, chopped
24 maraschino cherries with stems (optional)

For Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbs maraschino cherry juice
1/2 tsp almond extract

Allow butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twenty-four 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup combine buttermilk and cherry juice; set aside.  In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Do not overbeat. Stir in chopped cherries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks. 

To make frosting, in a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in maraschino cherry juice and almond extract. Gradually beat in additional powdered sugar. If necessary, beat in additional cherry juice or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, pipe frosting over tops of cupcakes. If desired, garnish with cherries.

262 calories per serving.

*Don't know what to do with the rest of the carton of buttermilk?  Freeze it in ice cube trays and you'll have buttermilk on hand anytime you need it!