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If you like chocolate covered cherries, you are going to love these Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes. A delicate spongy cupcake filled with cherry preserves and topped with cherry buttercream frosting. These are sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

Chocolate cherry cupcakes on cake stand.

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This recipe was inspired by my favorite candy, chocolate covered cherries. The cupcakes are full of chocolate flavor and kept moist with the help of oil and butter.

The frosting is a simple buttercream that is flavored with cherry preserves. Each cupcake gets a generous filling of cherry preserves and then topped with the cherry buttercream.

There is no shortage of cherry flavor in this recipe.

Who doesn’t love chocolate covered cherries?

This is a cute cupcake idea for Valentine’s Day. Don’t you think? If you love chocolate covered cherries, you will absolutely adore these cupcakes.

The cupcake base is my all time favorite chocolate cupcake. I used it for these Dr. Pepper cupcakes and these Andes Mint cupcakes.

Both of which were a huge hit with you guys! I love this simple chocolate cupcake base. It’s fluffy, moist, and sturdy.

I filled the cupcakes with cherry preserves. And topped them with a sweet cherry buttercream frosting. I like to use black cherry preserves because of the rich, dark color. If you can’t find it, you can simply use regular cherry preserves.

These cupcakes are one of my most popular cupcake recipes. Every just loves them!

Recipe Snapshot

TASTE: Rich, chocolatey and cherry flavored.
TEXTURE: Spongy cake with a smooth, creamy frosting.
EASE: Medium
TIME: Just about an hour.

What You’ll Need

Ingredients

Vegetable oil – Adds moisture to the cupcake batter.
Butter – Unsalted butter, softened is in the cake and the frosting.
Sugar – The cupcakes require white granulated sugar and light brown sugar, and the buttercream frosting calls for powdered sugar.
Eggs – Eggs add richness to the cake batter.
Vanilla extract – Use a high-quality natural extract.
Flour – All-purpose flour. You can also use 1:1 gluten-free flour as a gluten-free substitute.
Cocoa powder – Unsweetened cocoa powder gives the cakes their rich chocolatey flavor.
Leavening – These cupcakes require both baking soda and baking powder for leavening.
Salt– Just a dash of kosher salt to balance the flavors and activate the leavening.
Milk – Whole milk is preferred in this recipe.
Black cherry preserves – The cakes are filled with a bit of cherry preserves (regular or black cherry jam). The frosting also uses a bit of cherry jam as well.
Heavy cream – Just a little bit will add creaminess and texture to the buttercream frosting.

Chocolate cherry cupcakes on white tabletop.

How to Make Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below

Make the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the oil, butter, and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir with a whisk. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until well blended.
Fill the prepared muffin cups half full with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few dry crumbs. Remove cupcakes immediately from pans, and cool completely on a wire rack.
Use the point of a sharp knife to cut a small well in the top center of the cupcakes and fill them with cherry preserves. Replace the top portion of the cupcake and top with frosting. Garnish with fresh cherries dipped in chocolate if desired.

Wet ingredients for cupcakes mixed in glass bowl.

Make the frosting

Beat butter on medium speed until fluffy.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in cream until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.
Beat in the cherry preserves. If the frosting becomes too loose or curdled-looking, add more powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting comes together once again.

Handy tip:

Use a cupcake corer for easier removal of the centers.

Tips For Success

Room temperature ingredients: Make sure that all cold ingredients are brought to room temperature.
Properly measure the flour. Don’t just scoop the flour out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Or measure by weight for more accurate results.
Cherry filling: You can use cherry pie filling instead of jam!

Storage & Freezing

Frosted cupcakes can be stored covered tightly at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.