These vegan black forest cupcakes are so delicious and easy to make. Stuffed with a homemade Kirsch cherry filling and topped with vegan Swiss meringue buttercream. They're like a mini version of the German classic, in cupcake form!
Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.
To make the vegan "buttermilk" add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl, stir and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Add the apple puree, olive oil, and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk mixture, stir and set aside. Add the flour, cacao powder, soft brown sugar, baking soda, and salt to a separate bowl and whisk to make sure everything is evenly mixed. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined - do not over-mix.
Distribute the batter amongst the cupcake liners and bake for 22-25 minutes. Check are done by piercing them with a toothpick or a knife, the knife should come out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool further for 30-40 minutes.
Filling
Whisk together the maple syrup, Amaretto/Kirsch, and cornstarch in a small bowl to form a paste.
Add the frozen cherries to a saucepan and cook on low heat for a couple of minutes to slightly defrost the cherries until the juices start to flow out of them. Add in the cornflour paste and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to the fridge to chill for an hour.
Use a cupcake corer (or apple corer) to cut out centers in the cooled cupcakes, reserve the pieces that you remove. Fill each cupcake with cherry filling and place the reserved cuts back on top of each one.
Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle. Pipe the buttercream on top of each cupcake, top with more cherry filling and grated chocolate.
Storage
These cupcakes are best served at room temperature. If you're keeping them for more than a couple of days, refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I recommend taking them out of the fridge for at least 2-3 hours to bring them to room temperature before serving. Especially if you’re topping them with vegan buttercream which stiffens up when chilled.
Notes
Nutritional information is based on filled cupcakes without frosting.
To make these black forest cupcakes nonalcoholic, swap the alcohol for apple juice or water.
If you want to simplify this cupcake recipe even further you can fill these vegan black forest cupcakes with cherry pie filling.
These cupcakes would be just as amazing with some coconut whipped cream to top them off instead of the buttercream.
Another option is to top your vegan black forest cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.