Description
These Vegan Black Forest Cupcakes offer a delightful plant-based twist on the classic dessert featuring moist chocolate cupcakes filled with a luscious cherry compote and topped with creamy vegan Swiss meringue buttercream and dark chocolate shavings. Perfect for parties or a special treat, these cupcakes are dairy-free, rich in chocolate flavor, and bursting with fruity notes.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcake Batter
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- â…“ cup apple puree (or unsweetened apple sauce)
- â…“ cup olive oil (or neutral cooking oil)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup plain flour
- ½ cup cacao powder or natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup soft brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Cherry Filling
- 3 cups frozen cherries (or pitted fresh cherries)
- 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons Kirsch or Amaretto
- 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)
Topping
- 1 batch vegan Swiss meringue buttercream
- 0.7 oz dark chocolate (grated)
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pans: Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with cupcake liners to prevent sticking.
- Make vegan buttermilk: In a small bowl, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Stir and let it sit for 10 minutes to curdle slightly, mimicking buttermilk.
- Mix wet ingredients: Add apple puree, olive oil, and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk mixture. Stir well and set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the plain flour, cacao powder, soft brown sugar, baking soda, and sea salt to ensure even distribution.
- Combine batter: Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk gently until just combined. Avoid over-mixing to keep cupcakes light.
- Bake cupcakes: Distribute batter evenly among cupcake liners. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (30-40 minutes).
- Prepare cherry filling paste: Whisk maple syrup, Kirsch or Amaretto, and cornflour in a small bowl to form a smooth paste.
- Cook cherry filling: Place frozen cherries in a saucepan over low heat to defrost slightly until juices release. Add the cornflour paste and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove from heat, cool for 10 minutes, then chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Prepare buttercream: Meanwhile, make the vegan Swiss meringue buttercream as per your preferred recipe or instructions.
- Core cupcakes: Using a cupcake corer or small apple corer, remove the centers from the cooled cupcakes and set aside the removed pieces for topping.
- Fill cupcakes: Spoon the chilled cherry filling into each cupcake cavity, then replace the reserved cupcake cores on top to seal.
- Pipe buttercream: Transfer the vegan Swiss meringue buttercream into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle. Pipe generous swirls on top of each filled cupcake.
- Garnish cupcakes: Top the buttercream with more cherry filling and sprinkle grated dark chocolate over each cupcake for decoration.
- Storage advice: Serve cupcakes at room temperature. For longer storage, keep in an airtight container refrigerated up to 5 days. Bring back to room temperature for 2-3 hours before serving to soften the buttercream.
Notes
- Ensure not to over-mix the batter to maintain a tender crumb texture.
- If using fresh cherries, pit them beforehand for convenience.
- Kirsch or Amaretto adds authentic flavor but can be omitted or substituted with cherry juice for alcohol-free version.
- The vegan Swiss meringue buttercream requires aquafaba or a similar egg-white substitute for fluffiness.
- These cupcakes are best enjoyed within a few days for optimal freshness.
- Cooling cupcakes completely before coring prevents crumbling during filling.
