1-1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup cherry marmalade or cherry preserves, large pieces snipped, if necessary
60 maraschino cherries with stems, drained
1 recipe Powdered Sugar Icing (below)
Preheat oven to 350. Line sixty 1-3/4 inch muffin cups with miniature bake cups; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Spoon 1 scant teaspoon of batter into each muffin cup. Add 1/2 tsp of cherry marmalade and top with 1/2 tsp additional batter.
Bake cupcakes for 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Pat cherries dry with clean paper towels. Drizzle each cupcake with about 1/2 tsp icing. Dip half of each cherry into remaining icing; place on top of cakes. Makes about 60
Powdered Sugar Icing: In a small bowl, combine 2-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 2 tablespoons milk. Stir in additional milk, 1 tsp at a time, until icing reaches drizzling consistency. Add a smidge of maraschino cherry juice to tint the frosting pink.
