Vegan Chocolate and Cherry Cupcakes with Cream or Black Forest Gateau in vegan cupcake form! Bursting with cherry flavour with a rich chocolate base and topped with dairy-free coconut cream.
Cherry season is here! And I'm celebrating with my favourite way to use cherries... Black Forest Cake!
Or in this case, cupcakes. It's like a condensed version of Black Forest Gateau and it's AMAZING.
Whether you're vegan or not, you will love these cherry chocolate cupcakes. They're rich, chocolatey and completely indulgent!
They're also been tested with gluten-free flour (I used Dove's all-purpose gluten-free flour blend) and it turned out great!
Despite containing no actual chocolate, it's the most chocolatey cake I've ever tasted!
I have to say, I think my adapted version is even more chocolatey.
I think I'm going to have to try and make this into a full Black Forest Gateau next time, for a real show-stopping cake! Stay tuned to see how that goes...
I did intend on making my own jam for these cupcakes, originally but the weather has been so unbearably hot these past couple of days that I couldn't stand the thought of using the stove for any longer than 5 minutes!
Plus, you can find some delicious fruit-sweetened jams at the supermarket.
I think I will try creating my own jam recipes when the weather cools down.
There's something very satisfying about homemade jam.
I would recommend preparing the whipped coconut cream in advance.
Chill it in the fridge overnight, follow these easy instructions on how to make it and then chill it a bit longer before piping it or smoothing it onto the cakes.
It's not strictly necessary, as the cream should stay stable at room temperature, but it does make it easier this way and gives a cleaner look, I think.
These cupcakes are:
- Dairy-free, eggless & vegan
- Easy to make gluten-free (just use gluten-free flour in place of the plain - tested and approved!)
- Free from refined sugars
- Nut-free
- Soy-free
- Can be made kid-friendly - just leave out the Kirsch!
- Ultra chocolatey and rich
And a bonus moody shot because I couldn't resist taking more photos on my second recipe test.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Black Forest Cupcakes
Delicious, rich chocolate cupcakes filled with cherries and topped with coconut cream. Super indulgent and flavourful. Easy to make gluten-free (tested with Doves gluten-free flour).
Ingredients
- 175 g plain flour (or gluten-free flour)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
- A pinch of salt
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 225 g light brown sugar
- 275 ml hot water
- 60 ml sunflower oil, or other mild-tasting vegetable oil
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (to react with the bicarbonate soda)
For the filling
- Black cherry jam, I used a fruit-sweetened one
- optional A few drops of Kirsch or brandy
For the topping
- Whipped coconut cream
- Fresh cherries
- Dark chocolate, grated
Instructions
- To make the chocolate cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180c. / 350f. and line a muffin tray with 12 cases.
- Mix the first five ingredients together until well combined.
- Stir in the remaining wet ingredients until the mixture is smooth and lump-free.
- Divide the mixture equally between the 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes. Use a cake tester or skewer to test the middle of the cupcakes come out clean. If not, bake for a further 5 minutes.
- Leave to cool then cut small holes in the centre of the cupcakes. You can use a cupcake corer, apple corer or a small sharp knife to hollow out the centres.
To fill & decorate
- Fill the cupcake holes with the cherry jam (and Kirsch, if using).
- Make the coconut whipped cream, according to these instructions, then pipe or dollop onto the tops of the cupcakes.
- Decorate with a single cherry then serve!
- These are best kept refrigerated and can be stored for up to 3-4 days. Enjoy!
Abby says
Coconut cream is NOT stable at room temp just a heads up to anyone who is considering doing that especially if u use a liquid sweetener unless you stabilize it. That note aside these look fantastic!! I’ve never had a desire to make anything Black Forest flavored until I saw these cupcakes so I’m def gonna make them :) thanks for sharing! I’ll let you know how it goes!
Lenore says
Thank you for this lovely simple recipe that looks so festive and tastes delicious. I used gluten-free flour and added 1tsp of baking powder as well as I find that the gluten-free flour sometimes needs a bit of help. I used fresh cherries cut in half for the filling as I love baking with cherries and find that they become all moist and syrupy when you bake them. I will add more cherries next time and will definitely be baking them again ahead of Christmas.
Aimee says
I'm so pleased they worked out well for you, with the gluten-free flour! Hope you enjoy them again at Christmas :-)
Gretchen Adams says
Hi, can I make this with oats and /or almond flour? Really want to try for my bday next week. With the lockdown I'm trying to use what I have available.
Tina says
So I made these for a bake sale at work using all purpouse flour and they turned out to be the best thing I've ever baked. I wasn't sure about the hot water and oil so I just poured it on the dry ingredient and it started bubbling so I was scared it would turn out bad; no, it was heavenly great! I made my own jam with frozen cherries and some sugar left it an hour or so until I got the right consistency. As for the frosting I simply bought the So Delicious cocowhip and it was perfect for 3 days. They started getting a little dry but were still good looking and tasting.
Meghan says
Can you make these with just regular all purpose flour?
Abby says
Plain flour is all purpose flour