Chocolate Cherry Cola Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cake:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1½ cup cola (don’t use diet)
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 can cherry pie filling

Glaze:
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp. cola

Icing:
• 1½ cups heavy cream
• 6 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• Garnish: Maraschino cherries

Instructions

1. Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pans with liners or cooking spray. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl combine sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high speed until light and creamy. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating about 1 minute after each.
3. In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, cola, and vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter mixture in 4 parts, alternating with the cola mixture. (Begin with the dry mixture.) Beat each addition just until incorporated.
5. Use a cookie scoop to transfer the batter to the muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched lightly and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes in the pan; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once cooled, cut out a cone shape in the middle of each cupcake. Add a spoonful of the cherry pie filling into the well.
7. Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cola. Drizzle over the cupcakes. (The mixture should run slowly off a spoon, so it won’t make a mess of things.)
8. Icing: Beat the cream in a chilled bowl with a whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer on slow speed). Begin adding sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, increasing speed as the cream comes together. Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Pipe the whipped cream onto the cupcakes as desired and garnish with a Maraschino cherry.

Notes

http://lilchefschool.com/chocolate-cherry-cola-cupcakes/