Black Forest Cupcakes

Black Forest Cupcakes, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

25 cupcakes.
10 minutes of prep.
100 minutes of baking.
30 minutes of post-processing.
90 seconds to devour them.

The big oven in my parents' kitchen decided to go kaputt, so these were baked in the toaster oven, six cupcakes at a time.
The mix made between 24 and 36; some cupcakes were fuller (and bigger) than others, and there was just enough to make an extra single cup. I only needed 22 for my class, plus one if the tutor was there (or Jake in case the tutor wasn't there), and then one for each of my parents.
Originally I got the recipe from here but I fudged it a wee bit.
Okay, I fudged it a lot. =p

Here's what I did:
*1 box German Chocolate cake mix
*1 can pie-ready cherries (with sugar)
*1 jar of whipped white icing (enough for 2-3 dozen)

1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions.
2. After cooling, use a melon baller, teaspoon, butter knife, or hand-held apple-corer to make a hole in the center of the cupcake; set aside the cake bit that you remove. Put 1-3 cherries in the hole. (Depending on how much you love your recipient. LOL) Replace the bit of cake you took out. (You may need to trim some off the bottom so the top's not sticking up.)
3. Frost.

Traditional Black Forest cakes call for a cherry and chocolate on top, but I (obviously) didn't do that.
In mine, too, I also added a few cherry chips to the bottom of the muffin cups before filling with dough and then baking. Some of them stuck to the paper cups, some of them integrated into the mix. If you want to try adding the cherry chips, I recommend adding them to the mix as you're mixing it, or sprinkling the chips on top so they will sink to the bottom. (Grab a bag of cherry chips; add the whole thing in if you go the mixing-in route, or sprinke just a few on top if you choose to do it that way.)

They turned out great and were a big hit!!
My wonderful Jake helped me with the filling bit; it was kind of a conveyor system.

very vanilla cupcake (and chocolate frosting!)

very vanilla cupcake, milk chocolate frosting

very vanilla cupcake (and chocolate frosting!), originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

I am so excited that I finally got around to making cupcakes today. =)
I've had the book for three weeks, during which time I was supposed to get together with another cupcake-loving pal twice and bake to our hearts' content. However, she works for an attorney in town and is also going back to finish her Bachelor's degree, so she frequently finds herself exhausted.

The recipe that follows is the one found directly in 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, but I tweaked mine. (Which I'll also share.)

Very Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
• Muffin pan, lined with paper liners
• Makes 12 standard cupcakes

    1 1/2 cups all purpose flour                                       375 mL
    1 tsp          baking powder                                           5  mL
    1/4 tsp       salt                                                             1  mL
    1 1/4 cups granulated sugar                                      300  mL
    1/2 cup      unsalted butter, at room temperature       125  mL
    3                eggs                                                               3
    1 tsp          vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)                    5 mL
    3/4 cup      milk                                                        175 mL
    1/2 cup      semisweet chocolate chips                      125 mL

1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk, making three additions of flour and two of milk, beating until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 23 to 28 minutes, or until tolden and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

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For my cupcakes, I made a variant of cake flour instead of using strictly all-purpose flour. To do this, simply use 7/8 cup regular flour and 1/8 cup cornstarch for each full cup of flour called for in a recipe. I am unsure of the difference this made in this particular recipe, as I have yet to try the recipe exactly as it appears in the book.
Also, I used white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet because I didn't have any semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I didn't follow the suggested frostings, either, because we had a can of milk-chocolate frosting on the shelf which needed to be used first.

My frosting technique looks like a child did it because it was the first time in 15 years that I have used a piping bag, and I didn't use the proper tip. (I have the jumbo-sized tips to use, but I don't have the proper coupler, so I am stuck using the largest round that came with the set.)

So there ya go. =)
If you try them, please come back and let me know how they are.
Either variation. Or both.