Cherry Ripe Cupcakes! {Cadbury Week}

Today is day 4 of Cadbury Week here on United Cakedom and the featured bar is one that hails from Australia….the Cherry Ripe!

If you have never heard of a Cherry Ripe before you probably don’t live nor have ever visited in Australia. Although I have done either and discovered these at a small business in Reading called The Strange Sweet Shop. It’s where I locally source any American things I miss from home.

A Cherry Ripe is Australia’s oldest chocolate bar, originally produced by a company called MacRoberston’s until Cadbury bought the out in 1967. It’s sort of like a cherry Bounty, but so much better!

I knew I wanted to use the Cherry Ripe in Cadbury Week even though they are hard to get a hold of. My first thought was the coconut and cherries and it automatically reminded me of German Chocolate Cake in the states. German Chocolate Cake isn’t really German, but it is a chocolate cake sandwiched and topped with a coconut & pecan mixture.

So, it’s a chocolate cupcake with a cherry coconut concoction on top covered in a chocolate ganache. Sound good? It is! I think I would tweak the cherry coconut concoction a little bit next time… just check the recipe below!

Chocolate Cupcakes:

100g Cadbury Bournville Dark Chocolate

175g butter, cubed

225g caster sugar

4 medium eggs

100g self-rising flour

2 ½ tbsp Cadbury Bournville Cocoa Powder

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas4; line your muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. Melt the chocolate and butter together in your preferred method (in a heat proof bowl over simmering water or in a micowave) Once it’s all melted remove from the heat and stir in the sugar let it cool for about 10 minutes. Beat with a hand mixer for 3 minutes and then add the eggs one at a time beating for 10 seconds in between each egg. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Beat until well blended. Then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Use the skewer test to be sure that the batter is completely baked. Cool completely. While it’s cooling get on with the…

Cherry Coconut topping:

600g Glace Cherries

125g condensed milk

150g desiccated coconut

½ tsp almond extract (I should have used a whole tsp)

½ tsp vanilla extract (I should have used a whole tsp here too)

Place cherries in a food processor and give it a pulse or two before adding the condensed milk, coconut, and extracts. I only used half a tsp of each, but I wish I had used a bit more to give it a stronger flavor. Give it a few more pulses until combined and done. It’s nice to have a few chunks of the cherries in the mixture.

Chocolate Ganache:

100g Cadbury Bournville Dark Chocolate

100ml double cream

In a small saucepan gently melt the chocolate over a low heat. Before the chocolate is completely melted turn off the heat and stir until it’s completely melted. Pour in the cream and gently whisk until glossy and smooth!

To finish:

Cherry Ripe (optional)

12 Glace Cherries (optional)

Top each cupcake with a heaped tablespoon of the cherry coconut topping and spread as best you can. Then gently pour over the chocolate ganche. You can place a sheet of baking paper underneath the cupcakes to catch any drips, but as the ganche makes just enough to cover the cupcakes you’ll want to be a little careful not to waste too much. If you happen to have a Cherry Ripe chop it up into 12 pieces and place on top of each cupcake or you could place a glace cherry on top of each. I chose to do neither because that’s how I roll. Actually I didn’t have a cherry ripe and even though I saved glace cherries to top with I still liked how they looked plain!

notes: The Strange Sweet Shop website; cupcake recipe is from Making Cupcakes with Lola’s; I know yesterday I used a cake mix for my cake and today I am using a from scratch recipe. It can be interchangeable. If you don’t have time grab a box of chocolate cupcakes and top away! Sometimes box mixes give people a chance to be creative with out the hassle of getting the cake right. Cherry Ripe filling was found in Jenny Colgan’s The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris (great read btw); how many times did I type Australia???; Please take a special note that this post and week are not sponsored by Cadbury in any way shape or form. It’s all because I just wanted to have a little fun!

Monday: Picnic - PicnicDoodle Salad

Tuesday: Double Decker - Double Decker Pillow Cookies

Wednesday: Star Bar - Star Bar Cake