CHERRY RIPE CUPCAKES

Now that MoFo is over I still want to get into a routine of posting. I think I will aim to post at least once a week, maybe twice a week (I’ll try). Anyway, to start off my new posting regime I made these cupcakes. I used to love Cherry Ripe Chocolate bars! Dark chocolate with cherry and coconut, yum, can’t really go wrong right?

In creating these cupcakes I had to make some decisions. I needed to combine all those flavours the way I remembered them without one flavour out shining the others! With that in mind I went with a coconut cupcake rather than a chocolate one. When I looked on the web it seemed that everyone went with a chocolate cupcake but I didn’t like this for two reasons. 1) it seemed too much like Black Forest Cupcakes; 2) if I used a chocolate cupcake how was I going to make the coconut stand out against that dominant chocolate taste? I also thought that if I used a coconut cupcake I could use a Dark Chocolate Ganache for the chocolate component. That way you get that authentic chocolate taste like a cherry ripe, which wouldn't be achievable with a sweet chocolate frosting. For the cherry component it was easy. I was going to shove the coconut cupcake full of a sour cherry jam. Sour cherries were my choice to offset the richness of the dark chocolate and sweetness of the coconut cupcake. So all the elements were there – sweet, rich and tart. YUM.

These cupcakes turned out incredibly moist (like a cherry ripe) and delicate, so you need to serve them in their wrapper or wait a few hours for everything to set.

Coconut Cupcakes

(Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp coconut essence
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup shredded coconut

Directions

1.	Preheat oven to 180°C degrees. Line a twelve-cupcake tin with paper liners, set aside.
2.	Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
3.	In a separate bowl combine the oil, coconut milk, sugar, coconut essence and vanilla essence.
4.	Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until smooth. Fold in the shredded coconut.
5.	Evenly fill each muffin tin and bake for 20-22 minutes; the cupcakes should be slightly browned around the edges. Remove them from the muffin tin and place on a cooling rack. Allow to fully cool before filling and topping.

Sour Cherry Ripe Filling

This is my go to fruit filling formula (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) for any fruit filling in a cupcake.

Ingredients

140g frozen sour cherries, thawed
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp arrowroot
3 tbsp water

Directions

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine thawed cherries and their juice, and sugar. Stir till mixture starts to simmer. Whisk together arrowroot and water in a small bowl, steadily pour into the cherries, stirring constantly. Keep stirring; the mixture will rapidly thicken. Remove from heat and allow to fully cool.

Dark Chocolate Topping

(from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

Ingredients

1/4 cup soy milk
120g dark chocolate (at least 70%), chopped
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions

1.	Bring the soy milk to a gentle boil in a small sauce pan. Immediately remove from heat and add the chocolate and maple syrup. Use a rubber heatproof spatula to mix the chocolate until it is fully melted and smooth. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

Cherry Ripe Cupcakes

Ingredients

Fresh Cherries
Coconut Cupcakes
Sour Cherry Ripe Filling
Dark Chocolate Topping

Directions

1.	Make all the components separately, allowing the cupcakes and filling to cool completely and the chocolate topping to cool to room temperature.
2.	With a small spoon or knife gently dig out a cone from the top of each cupcake, leaving a hallowed out centre. These cupcakes are delicate so be careful. The cone will crumble so you can either throw it away or eat it, I’m pretty sure you know which option I went for. Fill each cupcake with as many cherries as you can, at least 1, from the Sour Cherry Ripe Filling. There is no need to put a cupcake top back on as the chocolate ganache topping will act as the ‘lid’.
3.	Spoon a large dollop of chocolate topping on top and use the back of the spoon to spread the topping over the cupcake. Gently press a fresh cherry on top into the topping to hold when the chocolate sets.