National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day- Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcake Recipe

Momma Told Me: You never know what's in store.


Today is the first day in weeks where I've taken a deep breath and felt entirely myself. After weeks of fighting this season's flu, and a few tumultuous days of work and social affairs, I've emerged to that 'New Year's shine' everyone is so buzzing about. I'll admit, I have not been myself these past few weeks; and that did make the holidays rough- but here I am fresh and once again invigorated for all that lies ahead. In fact, we're kicking off 2016 with our first installment of a new blog series covering entirely random, picked at whim, 'National Day of Celebration' posts. Every week in 2016 you can tune into Momma Told Me for a unique recipe or project celebrating something completely arbitrary based on a little known National holiday.

While I so very much wanted to make some Wookiee Cream Puffs for National Science Fiction Day and National Cream Puff Day (January 2, 2016) I only just recovered in time for today's post. It's my hope, as we move through the year, that I will get the scheduling in order enough to share these fun recipes and crafts with you days, if not a week, in advance of the holiday so that you can follow along and celebrate too. I'm a little late to the celebration this week- but these Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes will taste just as good any other day of the year as well.

I thought National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day (January 3rd, 2016) was a great fit for this week's feature because they are often associated with seasonal gifting. That is, you see them emerge on shelves early November for the holiday season, and find them appearing in heart shaped boxes come February. Now, there is some debate over what qualifies as a Chocolate Covered Cherry- most argue that cherries simply dipped in chocolate so not count, but we won't fault you for celebrating that if you wish.

Yes, the 'real' chocolate covered cherries are actually a liquor style confection that is actually quite impressive to make. The technique for making such a candy with the perfectly liquid center, and sweet Maraschino core is actually rather frustrating- Believe me, I'll show you some time, I promise. The first Chocolate Covered Cherries, however, were introduced to the modern world in 1929 by Cella's Confections in New York. And the original recipe is still very much alive and in production 85 years later, surprisingly by Tootsie Roll.

When it comes to chocolate covered cherries, themselves, you either love them or hate them. I, personally don't care for liquid, or cream, center chocolates and find the Maraschino cherries featured inside this confection are too syrup sweet for my tastes. But the combination of chocolate and cherry? A classic winner without a doubt. Black Cherry Chip ice cream remains one of my all time favorite 31 Flavors varieties. There's something about the tart bite of real cherry juice that plays up the bittersweet notes of cacao that I find intoxicating.

So, I offer you this Chocolate Covered Cherry cupcake recipe, which reminds me of my Cherry Cola Cupcake recipe- but has an entirely different flavor and sophistication. The secret's in the real Organic tart cherry juice, reduced down to a syrup for a heavenly buttercream frosting that's every bit as surprising as the center of a real chocolate covered cherry. Of course, we added some cherry to the cupcakes as well- but it didn't quite draw out as much beautiful color as I'd liked. In the interest of cutting back on artificial colors, we kept this recipe au-natural.

If a decadent dark chocolate devil's food cherry infused cupcake topped with a mountain of tart cherry buttercream frosting isn't enough we've added a cherry on top (quite literally) with a simple semi-sweet ganache and stemmed Maraschino cherry. I'd made this recipe prior with a  liquor sponge style base- but find this alcohol free variation is just as moist and actually draws the cherry flavor out more than the original.

Does the world really need a Chocolate Covered Cherry day? No- but all of those boxes of cordial cherries sitting on holiday clearance shelves might argue yes. For now, I'm content enjoying the celebration with a foil wrapped and some chocolate crumbs. This would be a wonderful Valentine's recipe *hint, hint* but really, it's just a deliciously fun way to dress up a classic devil's food cake. You can even use the boxed cake mix as a base- I'm not telling! Now dish- Do you like chocolate covered cherries or are you more of a chocolate dipped cherry fan?

What Daughter Says: Life may be like a box of chocolates, but these cupcakes never disappoint!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes

***Click here for printable Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes recipe.

Less Words Wednesday: Oreo Truffle Cupcakes, Corn Muffin Dogs

Momma Told Me: A busy child is a focused child.

It's virtually impossible for me to post images and not story-tell. With that in mind I've decided to introduce abbreviated posts on Wednesdays, not quite wordless, but with Less Words. As you know we're in the middle of Spring Break over here and I've been running around planning projects and field trips (when I am done with this post we are off to a 'Pick Your Own' farm) to keep the bouncing 10 year old occupied and engaged. This involves finding meals and treats we can make together, spending less time in front of the tube, and more in the kitchen. Monday afternoon we made 'things inside of things,' starting with hot dogs baked inside corn muffins. See my Sweet and Fluffy Cornbread recipe here.

Well, the concept was such a hit with Sabrina I thought we'd transition it into cupcakes. I'd found an interesting idea for cupcakes baked with an Oreo center, on Pinterest, and we boldly set out to recreate it. I had no intention of documenting the process for a post, but as we were gathering the ingredients she happened to ask "Is this for your work?" Which is what we refer to my blogging time as, so to discourage interruptions and noise when I am writing. (It's also the easiest way for Sabrina to understand why there is a never-ending parade of boxes coming in and candid photos of her being taken.) In any case I let out a sigh and reached for the camera.

It sounds far more complicated and pretentious than it is, really. The Oreo 'Truffle' is simple a ratio of 3/4 brick of Cream Cheese hand mixed with 1 package of food processed Oreo cookie crumbles. Since this IS an indulgent recipe, no matter how you blend it, I suggest replacing the 'Oreo' name with a brand of cookies found on our grocer's shelves out here, WhoNu? This particular brand is a slightly healthier sandwich cookie option, free of trans-fat, high fructose corn syrup, and fortified with additional vitamins and nutrients. In a household blind taste test, we couldn't determine the difference between the two brands!

In any case, we made a dozen of these Oreo Truffle Cupcakes and every single one was gone before the first game of bowling at league last night. I was receiving compliments and paid requests for additional batches! Of course Sabrina really did most of the work, I was just the responsible chaperone among kitchen appliances. The worst part of this endeavor were the additional 23 Oreo 'Truffles' left over. Thankfully Jay managed to finish them all of in 2 days.

What Daughter Says: Keep busy during Spring vacations with fun recipes and mealtime activities.

Oreo Truffle Cupcakes

***click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

* 1 Package Sandwich Cookies (for Truffles)

* 3/4 Brick of Cream Cheese, About 6oz (for Truffles)

* 2 3/4 C Flour

* 1 1/2 C White Sugar

* 4 TSP Baking Powder

* 3/4 TSP Salt

* 3/4 C Butter, Softened

* 1 C Milk

* 4 Egg Whites

* 1 TSP Vanilla Extract

* 1 TSP Almond Extract

Directions:

1.) Crumble cookies  in processor until even and fine in texture. Add to Large bowl and portion slices of cream cheese into crumbs, until all of the cream cheese is added. Mix by hand until all loose crumbs are incorporated and no streaks of cream cheese can be seen. Roll into 1" balls and place on parchment sheet or non stick plate and refrigerate a minimum of 1 hour.

2.) Once Truffles have chilled, preheat oven to 350F. Sift together dry cake ingredients. 

3.) In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until they begin to foam. Introduce 1/2 C sugar, gradually, and beat until meringue forms soft peaks.

4.) In a separate bowl, beat butter. Add remaining 1 C of sugar, and cream until fluffy. Alternate introduction of sifted ingredients and milk, stirring well. Add Vanilla and Almond extracts. Introduce meringue mixture and mix well.

5.) Pour 1/2" of batter into the bottom of prepared cupcake pans, or liners. Place chilled Truffle ball gently in the center. Do not push down or the Truffle will sink. Cover Truffle ball with batter until the cup is about 1/2, to no more than 3/4 full. The white cake batter will fluff quite a but, so do not overfill! Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until tops begin to turn golden brown.

*** A boxed cake mix may be substituted to save time. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. mix leftover cookie crumbs with frosting and sprinkle atop finish cupcakes.