I was thinking of making the Cherpumple for a friend's birthday, but it looks, well, disgusting (plus all the ingredients would've cost well over $50). So I decided to find out if I could successfully shrink it down to a handheld size by putting a mini cherry pie into a dark chocolate cupcake and topping with vanilla bean butter cream.

Not only can it be done, but it's delicious... and pretty!

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For my next trick, I'd like to bake a half dozen of these into a 10" cheesecake. For the ultimate Turducken experience. Then I'd like to vomit.

Happy Saturday!

Update: The how-to is after the jump!

Recipe/how to (I totally cheated and used mostly pre-made ingredients (save for the frosting). More than anything, I just wanted to see if it'd work):

I used Pilsbury pie dough and cherry filling to make the mini pies. Cut 24 circles of dough. Pressed 12 into the bottom of mini cupcake tins, fill with cherry pie filling, and then top with the other 12 circles. (I used my finger to spread a drop of water along the edges of the dough to help ensure the two pieces stuck together and sealed well.)

Cut a small X into the top of each pie, to allow the steam to escape. Bake for about 20 minutes (until the dough is cooked but just barely starts to brown) at 375 degrees. Mine overflowed like crazy, but since they'll be covered with batter, they don't have to be pretty.

Let them cool for about 20 minutes or so, then mix up the cake!

I used dark chocolate cake mix and mixed that according to instructions. Pour about a half inch of batter into each paper-lined cupcake tin, then plop the mini pies into that (don't press all the way to the bottom, though, they'll kind of settle in on their own). Top each mini pie with just enough batter to cover the top and all edges of the pie. (It'll be close to the top, but try not to fill ALL the way to the top of the cupcake tin—I had a couple like that and they overflowed all over while baking. Tasted good, but looked ugly.)

Bake for about 25ish minutes at 350 degrees (or until the cake is firm to the touch).

Let cool!

For the frosting whip 2 sticks of room temperature butter (unsalted or salted, your choice—I prefer unsalted) with 2 cups powdered sugar and the seeds from one vanilla bean. Then frost when cool! I sprinkled some chunky sugar on the top for a little bit of crunch.