I made these chocolate raspberry cupcakes for Easter, and they use one of my favorite tricks for getting amazing fruit flavor into baked goods and frostings. The cupcake itself is a lovely moist chocolate cake, and it is filled with a chocolate raspberry ganache center. The frosting is raspberry buttercream that uses both raspberry jam and freeze dried raspberry powder to give it tons of raspberry flavor.
For the freeze dried fruit powder, you can by the freeze dried strawberries or raspberries or other fruit and grind them up, but I find it easier to buy the pre-ground powder on amazon. There are links to both the strawberry and raspberry powder I use on my Favorite Items page.
When I make cake or cupcakes, one thing I love to do is freeze the extras. Most cakes and cupcakes freeze wonderfully and you can pull them out in individual servings to eat later. My trick for doing this with cupcakes is the put them on a baking sheet with no cover and slide them into the freezer and let them stay for a few hours until they frosting is firmly set. Then I wrap the individual cupcakes or cake slices in plastic wrap and seal in a ziploc and freeze. Then you can pull one out, unwrap the plastic wrap while it is still frozen so you don’t mess up the icing and let it defrost in the fridge or at room temp.
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg room temp
- 1 egg yolk room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup whole milk room temp
- 1/4 cup sour cream room temp
For the ganache:
- 4 oz semi sweet chocolate chopped
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 cup raspberry jam seedless
For the buttercream:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup freeze dried rasp powder
- 1/4 cup raspberry jam
- pinch of salt
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, alt and espresso powder.
- In a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and mix until fluffy on medium speed. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. Then add the egg and yolk and mix again until well mixed and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add in the milk and sour cream and mix. Add the dry ingredients with the mixer on low and mix until just combined. Spoon into muffin cups until they are about 3/4 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Allow to fully cool.
To make the ganache:
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat the cream in the microwave until steaming and pour over the chocolate. Allow to rest for a minute or 2 until the chocolate melts and then whisk until smooth. Add the raspberry jam and mix again until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool until it thickens. You can place in the fridge to speed this up. Once it has thickened enough to hold its shape, spoon into a piping bag.
- Using a cupcake corer or a small knife, cut out the center of each cupcake, not going all the way to the bottom. Using the piping bag, fill each hole with ganache up to the level of the top of the cupcake.
For the buttercream:
- Place butter in a stand mixer and mix on medium until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Add in the raspberry powder, jam, and vanilla and whip until smooth. Place in a piping bag and use to decorate the cupcakes.