I’m in a book club and played host to last night’s meeting.  My sugary contribution to the food spread?  Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting.  I thought they sounded classy..and what’s more classy than a bunch of women sitting around, sipping wine, and discussing books?  Well, a bunch of women sitting around, sipping wine, discussing books, and eating cupcakes.

The recipe is from Ming Makes Cupcakes.  I’m not usually a huge fan of chocolate-fruit combinations, but this recipe caught my eye when I was perusing Ming Thompson’s site, with wine-infused cherries mixed into the batter and a frosting that is 1/3 mascarpone cheese, which I’ve never baked with before.

Turns out the chocolate totally overpowers the fruit flavors in this recipe, resulting in simply a rich, moist chocolate cupcake.  However, the chocolate flavor is amazing; and paired with the not-too-sweet (and easy-to-make) frosting, I still declare this recipe a winner.  The frosting is definitely versatile enough to pair with any chocolate or mocha flavored cake.  And next time, I would experiment with different cherries to see if another variety might bring out the flavor more.  (I used canned red tart cherries this time.)

INGREDIENTS FOR CAKES:
3/4 c. port wine
3/4 c. canned cherries
1/2 c. butter
3 tbsp. + 3/4 c. sugar
1 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. cocoa
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/3 c. sour cream

INGREDIENTS FOR FROSTING:
8oz. mascarpone cheese
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar

Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.  (The recipe yielded 17 cupcakes for me when roughly 4/5 filled.)

Simmer port wine and cherries in a saucepan for 10 minutes.  Remove 1/8 c. liquid; set aside.  Add butter, 3 tbsp. sugar, chocolate, and cocoa to saucepan; whisk until melted.  Remove from heat and let cool.  In separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl, mix egg and sour cream.  Add port mixture to egg mixture and beat briefly.  Then add flour mixture and beat again.

Pour into lined pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Make the frosting: Beat all ingredients on high speed for about 2 minutes or until soft peaks form.  Prior to frosting, spoon remaining port liquid over eat cupcake.  Then frost, and decorate with either cherries or chocolate shavings, if desired.