Black Forest Cupcakes
These Black Forest Cupcakes are made with a doctored chocolate cake mix then filled with cherry filling and topped with whipped vanilla cream frosting for a delightfully sweet treat perfect for any occasion!
Easy Bakery Level Cupcakes
These Black Forest Cupcakes are a dessert that everyone will be excited to take a bite of! And honestly, with moist, rich chocolate that has a hidden sweet cherry filling that’s finished off with a vanilla whipped cream frosting… who wouldn’t be excited?!
I like to think these cupcakes are a bit sophisticated yet fun with their dark chocolate and black cherry combination! They have a moody vibe that would work well being served at a cocktail party!
Or you know… eaten at home in your pajamas on any given weekend.
Thinking that making homemade cupcakes with surprise centers is out of your league? I encourage you to think again! These Black Forest Cupcakes are SO easy to make… even if you have limited baking time under your belt!
With just 15 minutes of prep time and easy ingredients, you’ll impress yourself (and everyone else!) with two dozen of these delicious cupcakes!
Ingredients For Black Forest Cupcakes
This Black Forest Cupcake Recipe pairs a handful of store-bought ingredients with common baking ingredients you likely already have! From the cupcake batter to the filling, frosting, and toppings, they even come together pretty quickly as well!
To make the cupcakes you’ll start with a box of Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. From there, it’s doctored up with a box of unprepared Jell-O Instant Chocolate Fudge Pudding, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, whole milk, vanilla extract, and salt.
After the cupcakes have baked, cooled completely, and been cored, they get their cherry filling! You can either do a homemade filling, grab a store-bought cherry pie filling, or even use cherry sundae topping.
I prefer using the same cherry filling that I use in my Black Forest Cake Recipe. However, I’ve also been known to grab Breyers cherry ice cream topping to use as well.
Once the cupcakes have been filled they get their light and fluffy frosting finish! This is made by beating together heavy cream, unprepared vanilla instant pudding mix, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
To really dress these cupcakes up I like to garnish each with fresh cherries and chocolate curls! An easy way to add a special wow factor!
How To Make Black Forest Cupcakes
- Beat all of the cupcake ingredients together until smooth.
- Add the batter to a cupcake pan filled with liners.
- Reduce the heat from the preheated temperature and bake the cupcakes. Remove them from the oven once a toothpick inserted to the center of one comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack. While they’re cooling you can prepare the homemade cherry pie filling if that’s what you’ve chosen to use.
- Combine the frosting ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat them together until light and fluffy.
- Core all of the cupcakes and add the cherry filling to each cupcake.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Then top with chocolate curls and fresh cherries.
How To Store Black Forest Cupcakes
These cupcakes need to be stored in an airtight container and kept in the refrigerator. Enjoy them for up to 2 days! However, keep in mind that the frosting does thicken and turns a little gummy over time.
More yummy cupcake recipes that also have a boxed cake mix base:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes – Rich chocolate cupcakes with a surprise filling of Reese’s Pieces!
- Cookie Butter Chocolate Cupcakes – Moist, delicious cupcakes that prep in just 15 minutes!
- French Vanilla Cappuccino Cupcakes – Topped with sweet French vanilla cappuccino buttercream!
- Red Velvet Cupcakes – Fluffy cupcakes that are made with only 5 ingredients in under 30 minutes!
This post was originally published in July 2014 and was updated in January 2022 with fresh photos and content.
Steps
Preheat oven to 375°F and line a cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
Combine all cupcake ingredients in a large stand mixer or bowl and beat until smooth.
Add about ¼ cup of batter to each liner, filling to about 1/2 - 3/4 full.
Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 18-20 minutes or until fork comes clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
If using homemade cherry pie filling, use the baking time to prepare it, we like to use the filling from this Black Forest Cake recipe. Let cool to room temperature.
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the frosting ingredients on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. You want the mixture to be slightly stiffer than whipped cream but not overmixed to the point where it starts to become butter.
Core out the cooled cupcakes and add about 1 tablespoon of cherry filling to each of the cored cupcakes.
Pipe the vanilla frosting over the filling and around the rest of the cupcake.
Top with chocolate curls and cherries.
Notes
- The cupcakes and filling can be prepared in advance but I recommend making and assembling the cupcakes within a few hours of consumption.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, but note that the frosting will thicken and get a little gummy with time.
- You can use homemade or storebought cherry pie filling or you can also use cherry sundae topping.
Nutrition
- Calories210
- Carbs21g
- Protein3g
- Fat13g
- Saturated fat7g
- Fiber1g
- Sugar13g
- Sodium269mg
Estimates per serving, when a serving size is listed.
More recipes
Eight more from the same shelf.
