• 1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
• 2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
• 3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings. VARIATIONS: ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
• THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
• BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
• CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

 

To make the “bomb” part of the Chocolate Cherry Bomb Cupcakes, I used the ganache recipe from an Irish Carbomb Cupcakes recipe that I made for St. Paddy’s Day last year, sans whiskey:

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa), finely chopped (I just used Ghiradelli chocolate chips
• 4 oz (1/2 cup) heavy cream
• 1 tbsp butter at room temperature

Put the chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl such as ceramic or glass. On the stovetop, heat the cream until simmering (don’t scorch!), then pour it over the chocolate chips. Let it rest for a few minutes.

After it has rested and melted the chocolate chips, stir it together and add in the butter. It should be rich and creamy and a little glossy.

Cool the ganache so that it is thick and not runny, but can still be piped like frosting and still slides off of a spoon.

Make sure your cupcakes are cool, then cut holes in the middle. Some people suggest using a metal frosting tip to punch out the holes, I just used a butter knife. The holes don’t have to look perfect, no one will see them. They just have to be somewhat uniform in size.

When the ganache is thick enough from cooling, spoon or pipe it into the holes in the cupcakes. The Irish Car Bomb Cupcake recipe says to pipe it in, but that just sounds like too much extra work for something that people are going to taste and not see. I’ll save piping for frosting.

For the cherry buttercream frosting, I did my usual buttercream base of powdered sugar and salted butter, adding maraschino cherry juice as the liquid. You can adjust ingredients to taste, but this is roughly my amounts:

4.5-5 cups powdered sugar

2 sticks salted butter

6 tbsp maraschino cherry juice

Beat until spreadable consistency with an electric mixer.

I piped the frosting on top of the cupcakes (for these, definitely pipe and not spread with a knife. The chocolate ganache will smear into the frosting if you try to spread the frosting on).

I sprinkled a little pink sugar sprinkles on top, and finished with a maraschino cherry.

 

There you have it–Chocolate Cherry Bomb Cupcakes. I bet  Cherie Currie would be proud.