dr pepper cupcakes with cherry almond frosting

This started as a completly experimental recipe and uses some of my favourite flavours. Sometimes it's just got to be done. This is a little trashy but good. Go on, you know you want to.

Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
330ml can dr pepper
100g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tbsp dark cherry jam/conserve
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
150g dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs

Makes 10 cupcakes.

1. Start by reducing the dr pepper in a saucepan over a low heat until it is 1/3 of the original volume (110ml)
2. Preheat the oven to 180C fan oven. Put the paper cases in the muffin tray and fill a large oven proof dish with water and place in the bottom of the oven. The steam that is produced will help the cakes to rise and be lovely and light.
3. Put the butter the saucepan with the dr pepper reduction and melt over a low heat. Remove from the heat then add the vanilla and almond extracts along with the cherry jam
4. Sieve together the dry ingredients, including the sugar, to get rid of any lumps, then beat in the dr pepper mixture followed by the eggs until thoroughly combined. It is aboslutely fine to do this by hand or with an electric mixer. This recipe does not require a huge amount of physical effort.
5. Put a dollop of the mixture into each of the paper cases, if you have a cup measure it's about 1/4 cup per case.
6. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool completely before decorating with frosting.

Cherry Almond Frosting

It has been difficult to decide what to top the Dr Pepper cupcakes with. The flavour is quite complex and I was unsure what to accentuate. Anyway, I decided upon this sweet but slightly tart topping. The tartness comes from the fact I used a polish sour cherry cordial but feel free to experiment with maraschino cherry syrup, cherry brandy or other cherry cordial you may have to hand. Of course you could also go for a cherry variation of my berry frosting. 

Ingredients
120g butter, at room temperature
240g icing sugar, sieved
1-2 tbsp sour cherry cordial to taste
1 tbsp cherry jam

1 tsp almond extract

1. In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until soft.
2. Gradually add the sugar until thoroughly combined, smooth and creamy.
3. Next, the almond extract and jam followed by the cherry cordial a bit at a time. You may not need to add it all but keep going until you have your desired colour, flavour and consistency. 
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.