Raspberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Sadly, I've been slacking on blogging this month. There isn't any good reason for it, I think it's a combination of coming off service from a busy month (and trying to finally catch up on sleep), stressing over fellowship applications & interviews (or maybe I should consider Chief year instead??) and finally starting to look at my research and quality improvement projects. I really don't have an excuse, considering I have about 5 blog posts *almost* ready to go!

As a way to apologize, I thought I would post these delicious cupcakes! I made them for a dinner with friends, but sadly, my husband forgot to grab them on his way out the door. (Sad for our friends... but good for us!!) I was going for a raspberry cheesecake cupcake, without it being actual cheesecake. These are moist cupcakes, and with the combination of the cream cheese icing, it definitely makes you think of cheesecake. These kept fairly well in a tupperware for a week, so don't be afraid to make them a few days prior to serving them.



RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE CUPCAKES

Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes (Adapted from Martha Stewart)
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 small box vanilla pudding
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Raspberry preserves/jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the cups of a standard muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and pudding; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Add approximately 1/2 - 1 tsp of raspberry preserves & swirl into batter with a toothpick.

Place tin on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting

1 - 8oz package cream cheese (I used the full fat version to remind me of cheesecake)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar.

Beat cream cheese, butter & vanilla until smooth & well blended. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. (Adjust amount until you reach desired consistency).

Frost cupcakes as desired. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

ENJOY!

(This post has been posted as a participant in Sweets for Saturday)

Lime Raspberry Cupcakes

This was a wonderful, refreshing combination! The cupcakes were made from left-over batter from the Lime Cream Cheese Pound Cake, and the frosting was left over from the Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes. (I always keep the left-over frosting in freezer bags in the freezer especially for moments like this!)



ENJOY!

Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes

Nothing is worse than being on call on your birthday. I swear the pediatric chief residents have our birthday schedule, and put everyone on call on their birthday! (What's even worse is when there is a 2 hour code on your birthday call shift.....)

Anyways, I've been trying to make cupcakes for people when they are on call on their birthdays. I made the Carrot Cupcakes for one of my senior residents last June when he was on call on his birthday. For my birthday, I made the delicious Oreo Cupcakes.

This time around, I made these wonderful Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes. My colleague was on call in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on her birthday (and call in the PICU can be tough - she didn't get any sleep!) She said chocolate raspberry was one of her favorite combinations, and I've been wanting to try out this recipe. (I've made a different Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake last spring - I don't know if I could pick a favorite between the two).



I hope she enjoyed these cupcakes as much as the nurses & other physicians did. I've had a great few weeks working with her & hope her next birthday can be spent with family & friends instead of patients!



RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES (Adapted from Annie's Eats)
Makes Approximately 24 cupcakes

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES:

9 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup skim milk

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a small bowl sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, baking soda, and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Stir in the coffee and milk, and mix until combined. Add in the remaining dry ingredients, again mixing just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling the cups about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


RASPBERRY FILLING:

1 (12 oz.) bag frozen raspberries, thawed
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor. Place in a saucepan. Whisk in the sugar and cornstarch, and heat, stirring frequently until the mixture boils. Once it has thickened, remove the pan from the heat. Cool to room temperature before using.

Once cupcakes & filling are cool, inject 1-2 tsp of filling into the cupcakes. I used a regular cake decorating tip to inject into the cupcakes - they are light & airy, so there is no difficulty with this step!




RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE GANACHE:

5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate and jam in a small heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate and jam. Let stand for about 3 minutes. Whisk together gently until smooth. If any unmelted lumps remain, microwave a few seconds and whisk again. Let the ganache cool a bit until it has thickened slightly. Spread a small amount onto each filled cupcake.



RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
3/4+ cup seedless raspberry jam

Place the butter and jam in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream on medium-high speed until well incorporated. Add the powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments and mix until smooth after each addition. Tint with icing color as desired.

Frost cupcakes as desired.



ENJOY!

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

These are another one of the cupcake flavors that got me many marriage proposals (the first were my carbomb cupcakes). Lucky for my hubby, I'm happily married. But, it definitely shows that the way to a person's heart is through their stomach! These are 100% worth all of the effort. One of the most moist & decadent cupcakes I've ever tasted.



CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CUPCAKES (From Sweetest Kitchen)
Makes 24 cupcakes

CUPCAKES

1 cup + 2 TBS unsalted butter
1 cup dark chocolate pieces
(I used Hershey’s special dark chips)
2 – 2 ¼ cups raspberry jam, seedless if desired
1 ½ cups caster sugar
pinch of salt

4 large eggs, beaten

2 ½ cups self-raising flour
½ tsp Chocolate flavoring

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place cupcake papers in the muffin tin.

Put the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan on the heat to melt. When nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. Leave for a moment to begin softening, then take the pan off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted. Now add the raspberry jam, sugar, salt, eggs & flavoring. Stir with a wooden spoon and when all is pretty well amalgamated stir in the flour.

Scrape and pour into the baking cups, and bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before taking out and cooling completely.

RASPBERRY WHIPPED CREAM
Makes about 2 cups

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon white sugar

½-1 cup lightly sweetened raspberry puree, strained if desired

In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat only until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened raspberry puree a little at a time, and beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. Taste and fold in more sugar or puree, if required.

Cut a cone out of each cupcake (like the carbomb cupcakes), and fill with whipped cream, making sure the top is smooth with the surface of the cake.

You will have plenty of whipped cream left - grab a spoon & enjoy!

GANACHE FROSTING
Makes enough to lightly frost 24 cupcakes

2/3 cup dark chocolate
 pieces
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream cream

24 fresh raspberries, optional

Place chocolate pieces & cream in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and then whisk – by hand or electrically – till thick and smooth. Cool until thicken enough to stay in place on cupcake, stirring every 20-30 minutes.

Ice the cupcakes, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon, and stand a raspberry in the center of each.



Enjoy!