I hadn't made cupcakes in ages and wanted to try something new for Christmas so I decided to use Black Forest Gateaux as my inspiration. Instead of the traditional layers of chocolate cake, cherry liqueur sauce and whipped cream I made chocolate cakes with a cherry liqueur sauce filling topped with whipped cream.
Gluten free Black Forest cupcakes (makes 24 cupcake size cakes)
Ingredients
- 125g butter, softened
- 100g Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate buttons
- 160 ml (2/3 cup) semi-skimmed milk
- 2 eggs
- 175g caster sugar
- 200g gluten free self-raising flour, sieved
- 2 tablespoons Hotel Chocolat organic cocoa powder, sieved
- 125g/4½oz butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Cooking instructions
- Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F)
- Line muffin tray with paper cases
- Place chocolate and milk in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth
- Beat butter, eggs, and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour
- Stir in flour, cocoa, and warm chocolate mix until mixed thoroughly
- Divide mixture among cases
- Bake for 25-30 minutes
- Place cakes on a wire rack to cool
To Fill & Decorate (24 cupcake size cakes)
What you will need
- 200g black cherries, pitted and pureed
- 60 caster sugar
- ½ tsp cornflour mixed with a little water to make a smooth paste
- 2 tbsp cherry liqueur
- 300ml/10fl oz double cream
- Pink food colouring
- Fondant snowflakes
Instructions
- Place cherries, sugar, cherry liqueur and cornflour mixture in a small saucepan and, over a medium heat, stir until just boiling
- Remove from heat and stir until mixture thickens, leave to cool
- Using a cupcake corer, remove centre of cooled cakes
- Spoon cooled cherry mixture into the hollow of the cakes
- Whisk cream and pink food colouring until you have soft peaks in an even colour
- Fill piping bag fitted with a star nozzle full of pink whipped cream
- On top of the cakes, starting at outside edge, pipe a swirl of pink whipped cream
- I decorated the top of mine with sprinkled sugar snowflakes and some with a fondant snowflake
Here they are on my Winter Wonderland dessert table:
Have a sweet day!