Cherry Pie Cupcakes
Cherry Pie Cupcakes are a delicious mashup of cherry pie and classic cupcakes. Tender cupcakes are filled with cherry pie filling and topped with buttercream frosting to create a lattice look on top.
Cherry pie is the best flavor ever if you ask us, and being fans of cupcakes, we decided to combine them both into one dessert. Our cherry pie cupcakes are the best of both worlds, and they’re actually very easy to make. We take a simple cupcake recipe, fill it with cherry pie filling, and top it with buttercream frosting. It’s absolutely delicious!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It uses basic baking ingredients, most of which are probably already in your kitchen.
- The cupcake is moist and tender, and the cherry filling and buttercream frosting make it so decadent.
- It’s an easy dessert you can serve as a fun dessert or bring to parties.
🛒Ingredients
You’ll only need some basic baking ingredients for this recipe, and you can find them all in your kitchen or in one quick trip to the grocery store.
Everything you need is listed here, but you can find the exact quantities in the recipe card at the end of the post.
For the Cupcakes
- Butter – softened
- Sugar
- Milk
- Egg whites
- Sour cream
- Vanilla
- Cake flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
For the Frosting and Filling
- Cherry pie filling
- Powdered sugar
- Butter – softened
- Heavy cream
- Vanilla
- Ivory food coloring
🔪 How to Make Cherry Pie Cupcakes
Making these cupcakes is incredibly easy. Both the homemade cupcakes and frosting come together quickly, and decorating them is a breeze.
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Combine the Dry Ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 3: Combine the Wet Ingredients
Whisk the milk, egg whites, sour cream, and vanilla in another bowl and set aside.
Step 4: Cream the Butter and Sugar
Beat the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Step 5: Mix the Cupcake Batter
Alternate adding the flour and sour cream mixtures in small amounts, mixing until combined thoroughly.
Step 6: Bake
Divide the batter evenly among a lined cupcake tin and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step 7: Cool
Remove the tin from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Step 8: Make the Frosting
Beat the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream in a large bowl, adding more cream as needed to create a thick, pliable consistency. Add a few drops of ivory food coloring to make the frosting look like pie crust.
Step 9: Prep for Frosting
Carefully use a knife to scoop a small divot out of each cupcake. Then, divide the frosting between a piping bag with a small start tip and another piping bag with a small straight tip.
Step 10: Frost
Pipe the edges of the cupcakes with the star tip bag to create the pie edge. Then, add cherry pie filling until the divot in the cupcake is filled and a thin layer is on top of it. Finally, use the straight tip to pipe a lattice on top. Enjoy!
📝Variations
- Use your favorite pie filling to create different pie-flavored cupcakes.
- The divot in the cupcake is optional, so if you aren’t comfortable cutting into them, don’t.
- Make this semi-homemade by using plain, store-bought cupcakes.
If you love delicious mashups like these cherry pie cupcakes, then try our cherry cheesecake muffins.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Cupcake tin
- Cupcake liners
- Piping bags
- Small star and straight tips
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate these cupcakes for up to 3 days in an air-tight container. For longer storage, wrap the cupcakes individually in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 2 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
Serve With
Serve these cupcakes with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. The sweet, fruity flavor also works well with some dark chocolate and fresh berries on the side.
💭 Tips
- Mix your cupcake batter until the ingredients are combined, but don’t overmix. Your cupcakes will be tough.
- Cool your cupcakes completely before frosting them, or the frosting will slide off the top.
- The frosting should be as thick as possible while still allowing you to pipe with it. This creates the best pie look.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
If you use too much flour or overbake the cupcakes, they’ll be dry. Be sure to loosely spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife to prevent packing. In addition, remove your cupcakes as soon as a toothpick comes out clean.
Insert a sharp knife on an angle about 1/4 of the way into the cupcake, being sure to stop at about the center point of the cupcake. Then, slowly move the knife around the cupcake until you’ve cut a divot out of the center.
You can, but the amount required for each cupcake is so small, it’s not worth the trouble.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy cupcakes? Then try these delicious recipes:
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Cherry Pie Cupcakes
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- Electric mixer
- cupcake liners
- muffin pan
- piping bags
- small star tip
- small straight tip
Ingredients
Ingredients for cupcakes:
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup milk
- 3 egg whites
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ⅓ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for the frosting:
- 21 ounces cherry pie filling
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter softened
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Ivory food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the milk, egg whites, sour cream and vanilla. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Alternate adding a small amount of the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
- Once all ingredients are thoroughly combined, divide evenly among a lined cupcake tin.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
- Place on a cooling rack and allow to completely cool before frosting.
- In a large bowl, beat the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and about 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, adding more cream as needed to reach a thick, but pipeable consistency.
- Add a few drops of food coloring to mimic the color of a pie crust and beat until color is evenly distributed.
- Place 2 frosting bags with a small star tip in one, and a small straight opening on the other tip into a glass and divide frosting between them.
- *Optional to use a knife to scoop out a small divot in the middle of each cupcake to hold more cherry pie filling.
- Pipe the edges with the star tip to create the round crust edge of a pie.
- Spoon cherry pie filling into the middle of each cupcake, but don’t overfill.
- Using the straight piping tip, create lattice work lines across the cherry filling.
