Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. While the oven heats, pit and chop your fresh cherries into small pieces—I like to chop them into roughly ¼-inch pieces so they're distributed throughout the batter without creating dense pockets. Set the chopped cherries aside in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. This combines your leavening agents evenly throughout the dry mixture, which ensures consistent rise across all the cupcakes. Set the dry mixture aside.

In a large bowl, beat the room-temperature butter and granulated sugar together for 3 minutes on medium speed until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color. This creaming process incorporates air into the batter, which helps the cupcakes rise and creates a tender crumb. Scrape down the bowl halfway through to ensure even mixing.

Add the whole egg, egg whites, and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute until everything is well combined and the mixture looks smooth. Don't overmix at this stage—just incorporate the eggs fully.

Alternate adding the dry ingredient mixture from Step 2 and the buttermilk to the wet mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients—start with one-third of the dry mixture, then half the buttermilk, then half the remaining dry mixture, then the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the last third of the dry mixture. Mix on low speed just until combined after each addition to avoid overmixing, which would toughen the cupcakes. I like to coat the chopped cherries lightly with a tablespoon or two of flour before folding them in—this prevents them from sinking to the bottom during baking. Gently fold the floured cherries into the batter using a spatula until evenly distributed.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners, filling each about three-quarters full. This gives the cupcakes room to rise without overflowing. Place in the preheated 350°F oven and bake for 21-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting by beating the softened butter and sifted confectioners sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes until the mixture is light, fluffy, and creamy. Add the maraschino cherry juice, milk, and almond extract, then beat for another 30 seconds until the frosting has a spreadable consistency and is tinted a delicate pink. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, generously spread or pipe the frosting onto each cupcake and top each one with a fresh or maraschino cherry with its stem for an elegant presentation.