A refreshing salad that goes well with any summer picnic or barbecue.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 24 cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 2 (10 ounce) jars stem-on maraschino cherries
- 2 tablespoons Kirsch (cherry-flavored brandy), or as needed
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 (15.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
- 2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted, or more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
- Strain maraschino cherries over a large measuring cup. Count out 24 cherries with their stems intact and set aside on paper towels. Remove stems from the remaining cherries and place one in the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
- Stir cherry-flavored brandy into the cherry juice. Add more brandy or water to total 1 1/4 cups liquid. Pour liquid into a bowl.
- Add eggs and oil; beat with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined. Add cake mix and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Evenly divide batter among the muffin cups.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool in the tins for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the frosting. Combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. Add vanilla extract and salt; beat for 1 minute more. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Add additional powdered sugar if frosting is too thin.
- Frost each cupcake and garnish with the reserved cherries.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 270 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 36 g |
| Cholesterol | 42 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 187 mg |
| Sugars | 24 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |