Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes.....

As you can tell, I'm a little obsessed with cupcakes right now! They are just perfect for eating, for sharing, for decorating......I just LOVE them! These cupcakes were inspired from a recipe that I saw on Three Sisters Cafe blog....CHerry Chocolate Cake. I dreamed them up and had to make them right away! And the outcome was SOOOOO WORTH IT!

What I did:
First I followed this recipe that I got off the Three Sisters Cafe~
1 box of devil's food cake mix
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling ( I had canned my own last summer and used it...I love that I canned pie filling!)
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
Then: I put them in muffin tins. I baked them on 350* for about 16~17 minutes. I checked them after 15 minutes.
NOW for the Topping::::
I fisrt made a Ganache to put directly on the cupcake. This is the recipe:
1 Cup Whippping Cream
8 oz. of Chocolate (I used the Baker's Brand Semi-Sweet, but you could use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, unsweetened.....what ever yer feeling like)Coarsely chop up.

Bring the cream just to a boil in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Just let it sit there for 5 minutes, then stir it all together. Let it cool for 15 minutes, then frost the cupcakes.

This is what it looked like with just the ganache.

Then.....if they could get better.....You whip up some cream and pi[e it on each one. They really needed some kind of pretty topping like a marchino cherry dipped in the ganache and set on top.....oooooooh I like that! I may have to try them again with that!
The whip cream recipe I use is:
1 Cup whip cream
2 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla ( I actually tried use almond extract and LOVED it! I love the smell of almond extract!)

This may sound like alot of work but really so easy and SO worth all of the work! THey were just as good if not better the second day!