She’s Alive!

Yes, surprisingly; I am still alive!  [thank goodness]

I have soo many excuses for being gone.  One being that my computer died.  Josh fixed it, but it took him a while to get to it.  Another is that… well, I HATE winter.  It always gets me down.  Uck.  So I haven’t had the urge to get into the kitchen for a whiiile.

Anyway, on Saturday I decided that I wanted to make something summer timey… like a pineapple upside down cake.  I went rummaging through the cabinets trying to find everything that I’d need.  I had plenty of cherries but no pineapple.  I KNEW I had gotten pineapple & hadn’t used it yet; so SOMEBODY must have eaten all my pineapple.  I knew it wasn’t Josh because he hates pineapple & I also knew it wasn’t me.  [I would have suspected Sophie or Ollie, but they can't use the can opener.]  Everyone was still asleep, so I couldn’t accuse my Momma yet; I’d do that later.  But now I had to figure out something to make with 2 jars of maraschino cherries.  I ended up finding some almond extract in the cabinet & decided I’d make some cherry cupcakes with almond extract in them.

I found my base recipe from Southern Cakes, it’s actually for a coconut cake but the coconut doesn’t come in until the frosting.  I substituted almond extract for the vanilla & added 2 [10 oz.] jars worth of maraschino cherries, cut in half.  They turned out really well. [note the italicise-ing]  For the frosting I found an interesting recipe at the back of the recipe book for vanilla frosting.  I used extra vanilla; & I think next time I’ll use 1/2 stick less butter.

& for the missing pineapple… I found it later on in the cabinet.  I just wasn’t looking very well.  [guess I can't fuss at Josh anymore about not looking]

Enough of me… here’s the recipe!

[printable version]

Cherry Almond Cupcakes

Adapted from Southern Cakes

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, slightly softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 10 oz jars maraschino cherries (cut in half)
1 cups whole milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 12-cup cupcake pans with liners.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, & salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter & sugar until light & fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add flour mixture, alternating with the milk & almond extract, add cherries.  Fill cupcake pans 3/4 of the way full & bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Vanilla Cream Frosting

1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons AP flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan, add milk & flour.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly until mixture becomes thick & white.  Let cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy.  Slowly add the sugar & beat until well combined.  Add vanilla & then the cooled milk mixture.  Continue beating until frosting is soft & fluffy.