If you’ve been reading my blog for the past week or so, you know I went to D.C. over spring break.

While there, we were hoping to see the famous D.C. cherry blossoms. We went during the National Cherry Blossom Festival after all. Well, the blossoms had not yet bloomed.

It was okay, though. We still had a great time and seeing the blossoms is still on our list of things to do and see.

We ate so much good food while in D.C. Sweets were consumed multiple times daily. I was not complaining about that at all.

We visited a bakery in Georgetown called Baked and Wired. It had to be my favorite sweet place we went to all weekend. The selection of sweets was impressive. The atmosphere was cool. The location was amazing. It was an all-around lovable place.

The cupcake I got? Out of this world. It was a special for the weekend — a cherry blossom cupcake.

I took one bite and couldn’t help but just devour the rest (really fast). It was undeniably good. Sweet, fluffy and full of cherry flavor. It reminded me of cherry vanilla ice cream, which I just love. I knew I had to recreate that cupcake.

I thought and thought and here is what I came up with.

This cupcake is sweet. I did not make the cupcake part itself overly sweet because I knew the icing would make up for it. The vanilla bean studded batter is made even more fantastic by chopped up maraschino cherries. I love the texture they add to the cupcake.

The buttercream icing is sweetened with maraschino cherry juice. It is sweet, smooth and delicious on top of this cupcake.

These were loved by my family, I hope that you love them too!

Makes 24 cupcakes

For the cupcake:
3 c. flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 cup milk (I used almond)
1/3 c. maraschino cherry juice
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups chopped maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350*. Prepare your cupcake pan. Place cupcake liners in pan and lightly grease, if desired.

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Use a whisk to stir. Set aside.

Pour milk and cherry juice into a bowl and add seeds from vanilla bean. Mix well, to incorporate vanilla bean. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat very well, until light and smooth. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Next, add a little bit of the flour mixture, mix and then add a little bit of the milk mixture. I added 1/2 cup each at a time and mixed between each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are combined. Gently stir in chopped maraschino cherries.

Scoop batter into muffin liners. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the buttercream icing:
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
6 T. maraschino cherry juice
2 T. milk

Add butter and sugar to a bowl. Mix with a handheld or stand mixer until well combined, soft and light. Add cherry juice and milk, slowly until you reach a consistency and sweetness that you like. I used 6 Tbsp. cherry juice and 2 Tbsp. milk total, but adjust according to your taste.

Once cupcakes are completely cool, top with buttercream.

Enjoy!