Cathy, over at Noble Pig (link in the right margin), has lots of great cupcake recipes. They are particularly great because many of them do not require icing! I've never been a big fan of icing, sad I know. One such example is a dessert she calls Cherry Tassies. I have never heard of a "tassie," so I decided to give these treats a more descriptive name. They are super buttery, like shortbread, and this is my favorite thing about them. Even better than the cherry! They are also quite minty, more minty than I expected. And because I did not expect it, the flavor was at first a bit off putting.
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You'd think the mound of crushed peppermint would have been the first clue. But, I tried another one the next day, and I loved it. I don't know if it just didn't taste as minty, or if I knew what to expect this time, but it was delicious. And each subsequent cupcake was equally delightful. So when you bake these, you might want to cut down on the peppermint, or just brace yourself for a massive minty avalanche. 

For specific directions, follow Cathy's recipe. Below I will discuss items of interest, to me anyway.
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The recipe instructs you to roll the dough in some more powdered sugar before you put it in the pan. Don't skip this step! It gives the cupcake a nice crispy, glazed crust as the sugar melts in the oven. The recipe also calls for coarse sugar to sprinkle on the finished product for a little razzle dazzle. I didn't, because it seems unnecessary. But maybe I don't know what I'm missing!
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I used a normal size muffin pan, so I put more dough in each cup than she suggested. Just make sure that you fill each cup about 2/3 full if you use a normal size pan like me. Because of the added dough, I had to bake it longer, about 17 minutes. I also used paper cups. I think this helped keep the buttery goodness inside the cupcake (but honestly I have no idea because I'm new to this), so I recommend them! 
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Instead of pushing the dough into the sides of the cups, I just pressed my thumb into each ball. This gives plenty of room for the cherry and the dough will rise over it just enough.
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See? Delicious! Using the normal size muffin pans, this recipe yielded 24 cupcakes. I think they would be perfect around Christmas time, or at a cocktail party. I wonder what they would taste like with fresh cherries?

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