Black Forest Cupcakes - Black Forest Cake Festival - Baked Occasions

I have always liked the looks of black forest cake and thought it would be a fabulous dessert, if only there were not cherries included. When I was young the only cherries I ever encountered were in the form of Maraschino cherries or canned pie filling. The pie filling was tolerable, but the Maraschino cherries were something that I never enjoyed. As an adult, I have enjoyed fresh sweet cherries on many occasions and find them to be very enjoyable.

I had hopes for these cupcakes knowing that it included jam made from real cherries and had real cherries on top. Also, my children had recently requested making chocolate cupcakes so I knew I would have plenty of help eating a batch of them. I knew some of them would not include cherries however since Bear is not a fan of cherries at all. I used cherry jam when making the cupcakes, but I could not yet find fresh cherries in the store, so I used Maraschino cherries knowing that it is easy enough to remove them from the cupcakes, and knowing that two of the boys enjoy them.

While looking at the recipe I noticed that it was very similar to the Devil's Food Cake with Angel Frosting from the Baked Explorations cookbook by the same authors. That made me happy because I really like that cake and frosting. It reminds me of birthday cakes when I was young, my sister and I both enjoyed chocolate cake with the 7-minute frosting that this recipe uses. The icing reminds you of whipped cream and it is light, sticky, and sweet. It is fabulous right after you make it, but the next day it is not quite as good, and after that, it gets pretty deflated.

When the boys got home from school they were thrilled to have a special snack waiting for them. Bear was especially excited and asked for one with lots of sprinkles, his favorite. Then he tasted the frosting and declared, this is like whipped cream! Big Man was excited too and ate his really quickly, loving the cherry on top, but as soon as he hit the jam he declared the cupcakes no good and threw the rest away. I assured him that most of the cupcakes did not have the jam and he could have one without it tomorrow. Mr. T ate his so fast I don't think that he even tasted the jam, but he thought they were wonderful. I thought the jam was better than I expected in the cupcakes, but it was still not my favorite. I would use this recipe again, but I wouldn't use the cherry jam unless I knew there was a true cherry fan who wanted it.

The recipe and opinions from other bakers can be found on Baked Sunday Mornings here.

Timing: Recipe States: doesn't say, My Actual Timing:
Servings: Recipe States: 24 cupcakes
                Servings For My Family: 18 regular cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes
Leftovers: The cake is great the next day, the icing is not as good.


Family Ratings:
Me: These are great cupcakes, but I am not a fan of the cherry that is included.
Hubby:
Big Man: He thought these were great until he got to the cherry jam and then threw out the rest of his cupcake.
Bear: I gave him a cupcake with no cherries and he was thrilled. He loved the icing.
Mr. T: He was very happy to have this and didn't even notice the cherry jam, I'm not sure he even tasted it.

Will I repeat: Probably.

What will I change: I will leave the cherry jam out next time.