Black Forest cupcakes

Black Forest cupcakes are a deliciously moist chocolate cupcake with an easy cherry filling. All topped with fresh whipped cream and a cherry of course.

Black Forest cupcakes are an easier alternative to a traditional Black Forest Gateaux / Black Forest cake. Made without Kirsch, and super simple to make, they’re a great bake for kids as well as beginner bakers.

I love Black Forest Gateaux, ever since trying one while on holiday in Germany a few years ago. It’s something about the combination of moist chocolate sponge with whipped cream and cherries. It’s just delicious.

Traditionally, the sponge in a Black Forest cake is soaked in Kirsch (a cherry liqueur) but we left that out so the kids could enjoy it as well.

I wanted to make these really easy so used our favourite, easiest chocolate cupcake recipe and rather than make our own cherry filling for the cupcakes just used a tasty cherry conserve from the supermarket. There’s no need to bother trying to de-stone a lot of cherries (which can get very messy), or boil them up to make the filling.

How can kids help to make Black Forest cupcakes?

I’ve made these as easy as possible so they’re a great recipe for kids to help with. The base cupcake is just our favourite easy chocolate cupcake so kids can help all the usual steps: measuring and mixing and cracking eggs.

Once you’ve made the cupcakes, your kids can help core the centre of the cupcakes and add the cherry filling. And finally, kids can help whip the cream for the topping and pipe it on top. It’s a very soft frosting so a great, easy one for kids to practice their piping skills with.

How long do Black Forest cupcakes keep?

The whipped cream means these cupcakes don’t last long once they;re made. I’d recommend keeping them covered in the fridge and eating them within a day or two.

If you want them to last longer, or to make them ahead of time, the cupcake without the whipped cream topping will keep for a few days in an airtight container. Or you can freeze the cupcakes for a month or two. Simply wrap the unfilled or decorated cupcake well in cling film / glad wrap before putting them in a freezer bag.

Make sure to leave them out to defrost fully at room temperature before you fill and decorate them.

Other fun cupcakes for kids

If you and your kids love making cupcakes, check out some of our other easy cupcake recipes below:

Chocolate chip cupcakes
Raspberry cupcakes
Nutella cupcakes
Funfetti cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes
Butterfly cupcakes
Orange cupcakes
Strawberry cupcakes
Rainbow cupcakes
Monster cupcakes
Chocolate fudge cupcakes
Chocolate caramel cupcakes
Blackberry cupcakes
Apple cupcakes

Useful equipment

You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these Black Forest cupcakes

Muffin tin
Cupcake cases
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Spatula
Icecream scoop
Corer
Piping bag
Wire rack

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes
3 eggs
175g (3/4 cup) butter or margarine
165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
115g (1 cup) self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp boiling water
40g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder

For the filling
5 tablespoons of cherry conserve

For the icing
300ml (1 1/4 cups) double/whipping cream
50g (1/2 cup) icing sugar
12 cherries to decorate

How to make Black Forest cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C Fan / 390F and get your kids to line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Add everything to a mixing bowl

Get your kids to measure out all the ingredients and add them to a large mixing bowl or free-standing mixer.

You can do this in any order but we started with the eggs.

Get your kids to crack them into a small bowl before adding them to your mixing bowl. This just makes it easier to fish out any rogue shell. If shell does go in, simply fish it out with a larger piece of shell – it’ll stick to that better than it will your finger.

Next measure out the flour and sugar and add them to your bowl.

While your kids are doing that, measure the baking powder and add that. If your kids want to do it, make sure they level off the top of the teaspoon with their finger so that you add just the right amount.

Finally, mix up the cocoa powder with the boiling water in a small bowl. (Adding the boiling water is a job for the grown ups). Once it has come together into a paste, add it to your mixing bowl.

Mix everything together

Using a hand held mixer, wooden spoons or the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, mix everything together until it is well combined and has a nice smooth batter.

Make the cupcakes

Divide the cupcake mixture among the cases. They should be about ¾ full. If you have an ice-cream scoop, they spoon out the perfect amount so can make life a bit easier (and less messy) particularly for children.

Bake the chocolate cupcakes

Bake the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes. They’re ready when they have risen and look nice and cooked on top. A metal skewer or cocktail stick put in the centre should come out clean.

Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before popping them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Add the cherry filling

Once the cupcakes are cool, use an apple corer or a small sharp knife to cut the middle out of each of the cupcakes. Then get your kids to use a teaspoon to fill the hole with the cherry conserve. Cut the bottom off the cupcake core you’ve remove, then add the top back on top of the cherry filling.

Decorate the cupcakes

Pour the double/whipping cream into a large mixing bowl or free-standing mixer. Measure the icing sugar out and add that to your bowl. Whip the cream using a hand held electric whisk, or the whisk attachment of your mixer. Whip it until it has nice firm peaks (they should stay standing up if you remove the whisk from your mixture.

Add the whipped cream frosting to a piping bag with a large star nozzle attached. To save a bit of mess and make the piping a bit easier, add an elastic band or clip to the top of the piping bag.

Get your kids to pipe swirls of whipped cream to the top of each cupcake. Start at the outside and go round in a spiral until you end in a nice peak. My kids hold the piping bag at the top to squeeze the frosting out and use their other hand to guide the bag. You might need to help them as it can be a bit tricky. Add a cherry on top to decorate.

Serve and enjoy.