It was December the first time I visited Italy. While the temperatures in Rome never drop to the point they do in the frigid northwest of the U.S., December is generally not considered “gelato weather”. Of course, that didn’t stop me!
It was during that first trip that I discovered the joy of amarena, or cherry, gelato. This Italian variety of cherry is small, dark and slightly sour — but it becomes something magical when preserved in sweet syrup and churned into a creamy gelato base. Now no trip to Italy is complete without an amarena gelato (or two, or five…).
Fast-forward to now — it’s February, it’s freezing cold, and we’ve had more snow in NYC than we’ve had in a decade. I picked up a jar of my favorite amarena cherries at Eataly (you can also find them online) and decided to give them a more appropriate winter treatment by pairing them with rich chocolate cupcakes! I like to think of this as a little Italian riff on the classic Black Forest Cake.
You could get away with using another type of black cherry in syrup here (think Luxardo). You could even opt to try defrosted frozen black cherries, though the texture might be a little different. Whatever you do though, please don’t use standard Maraschino cherries here — they will be WAY too sweet and won’t give you the nice hint of sour to play against it.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Italian Cherry Buttercream
Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart)
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1.5 sticks (12 Tbsp.) unsalted butter
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs (at room temperature)
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. sour cream (at room temperature)
Buttercream
2 sticks (16 Tbsp.) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 lb. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/3 c. amarena cherries (strained out of the syrup), roughly chopped by hand or in a blender (Don’t totally puree it! You want flecks of cherry in the frosting)
Additional cherries to garnish
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a standard 12-muffin tin with paper liners.
Combine the cocoa powder with 1/4 cup very hot water in a small bowl and whisk until you have a smooth paste. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter and sugar and mix together. As soon as the ingredients are combined into a smooth batter, remove from the heat and pour the batter into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached.
Beat the batter for 3-5 minutes, just to cool it down a bit. Add the eggs one at a time over medium-low speed and mix until each is thoroughly incorporated. Add in the cocoa paste and the vanilla extract.
Turn the mixer to low speed and add half the flour mixture. Mix until combined and then add half the sour cream, mixing until full incorporated. Repeat with the last half of the flour and the rest of the sour cream. It’s important not to over-mix as soon as you start adding the flour — too much gluten development will start to make your cake tough!
Fill the muffin liners just over halfway full. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking to ensure even heat. Test doneness with a toothpick or cake tester — when it comes out clean (not covered in batter), you’re good to go!
Cool the cupcakes for a few minutes in the pan and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
Beat the butter with the paddle attachment in a stand mixer at medium-high speed until it becomes very light, pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Turn the mixer to low speed and add about 1/3 of the powdered sugar at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding the rest.
Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the heavy cream just to loosen the buttercream and give it a silkier texture if needed. Beat in the cherries.
Assembly
Fill a pastry bag fitted with whatever decorative tip you’d like. Pipe a generous amount of buttercream on to each cooled cupcake. Top each cupcake with a single amarena cherry and enjoy!
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