Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

Hello there, ~Paused Lifers~!

It's another strangely cool and windy day here in cruddy old Florida, but I actually had the day off so yay! Time to celebrate with a nice cup of coffee and then realize its only Tuesday and nowhere close to being the weekend yet.

How is one to cope with the realization that its only Tuesday? With cupcakes, of course! Chocolate cupcakes with a cherry compote and cream cheese icing to be exact.

I would have used my go-to chocolate cake recipe, which you can find Here, but an unfortunate accident befell my cocoa powder so I used a back-up cake mix.

Ingrediants:

Cake-

3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup coffee, room temperature

Compote- 

1 bag frozen, pitted cherries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp orange zest or extract

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Icing- 

8 oz cream cheese, cold

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 + cups of powdered sugar, depending on your desired icing consistency

1.) Make cake as directed here

2.) Put the cherries in a medium saucepan with the water, orange, vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil and then simmer until it gets nice and thick.

3.) For the icing, beat together the butter and cream cheese. Add in the vanilla. Then gradually add in the powdered sugar. Forget to take a picture because you're stupid.

4.) Cut our small holes in the cupcakes and fill with the compote. Ice as you please (I went for a half-rosette), and enjoy!

Mmmm, I love me a filled cupcake. The cherries add a nice tart taste to contrast the rich chocolate and the heavy cream cheese icing. Definitely give them a try!

So, what do you do when you realize that its only Tuesday? How do you decorate your cupcakes? Leave a comment below and, as always, subscribe and share if you likey~

*All hail the Glow C- erm, I mean PInterest. All Hail*