Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes

Have I ever told you about my brother-in-law? His name is Jacob. He’s a few years younger than me, but I’ve known him since he was about nine years old. He used to field relentless phone calls from me back when I discovered I was hopelessly in love with his big brother, back in my middle-school years.
Jacob left our small town in Kansas for college, and has never moved back. He lived in Minneapolis for awhile, then Seattle, and now lives in New York City. We miss him, a lot. He and my husband text each other constantly, like, teenage-girl constantly, and over the years, they’ve become much, much closer than they were growing up. We look forward to “Uncle Jakey’s” visits during the holidays, and enjoy his company so much that even MY brothers and sisters clear their calendars for our annual sibling party.
You know those people you meet that just have that special, one-in-a-million magnetic personality? That’s Jacob. He has THE BEST stories, with a vocabulary that would, could and does put everyone else’s to shame. I used to tease him that he had word-of-the-day toilet paper, or something.
One of these days, folks – he’s going to be famous. He has an amazing, beautiful singing voice (check him out on YouTube), he’s hilarious, and he’s pretty darn cute. ;) Mark. My. Words.

Anyway, he really has nothing to do with these cupcakes except that I found myself really missing him today, and wishing he was home to eat cupcakes with me. So Uncle Jakey, these cupcakes are for you! ♥♥

These cupcakes are really very easy, yet another white cake recipe that starts with a box mix. The texture is perfect, and is dotted with pieces of chopped cherries. My favorite butter cream (made with an almond emulsion instead of vanilla) is a lovely complement to the cherry flavor, and of course, a cherry on top.

INGREDIENTS

cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk (or buttermilk)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup cherry juice (from Maraschino cherries)

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 cup Maraschino cherries, roughly chopped

frosting:

1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 cups powdered/confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons almond extract

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

24 cherries with stems, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Cucpakes:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). Prepare a two 12-cup cupcake pans with papers, and set aside.
Rough-chop cherries, and set aside.
Combine remaining ingredients (cake mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, milk, cherry juice, almond) in a large bowl, and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer for two minutes.
Fold in chopped cherries.
Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full, with batter.
Bake 17-20 minutes or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Frosting:

Taken from :

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