Gourmet Cupcakes With Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting and Ganache Filling

Do you ever eat a cupcake and wish the frosting was a little less sweet and a little more complex in flavor? I love cupcakes, but I find it's difficult to make a frosting that is structurally sound without excessive sweetness.

These cupcakes will impress your friends and loved ones with a pop of all natural color and a zing of raspberry flavor to complement the delicious chocolate cupcake (which honestly even tastes good on its own). To complete the picture, the dark chocolate ganache filling adds textural variation as well as an additional depth of rich flavor.

Ingredients

Cake*

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
• 1 cup hot brewed black coffee
• 1 & 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt (I used fine grain sea salt)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk (I prefer whole milk)**
• 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar also works well)

Filling

• 1 cup chocolate (I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips)***
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Frosting

• 4 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1.3 oz bag whole freeze dried raspberries (or enough for 1/4 cup powdered raspberries)****
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
• Fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)

Tools

• Stand mixer (or electric hand mixer and large mixing bowl)
• Food processor (not needed if using already powdered raspberries)
• Conventional oven
• Microwave (could use stovetop and saucepan instead)
• Standard cupcake tin/muffin pan and paper liners
• Toothpicks/skewer (to test cupcake doneness)
• Butter knife
• Large mixing bowl
• Medium-sized mixing bowl
• Microwaveable bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Mixing spoon and rubber spatula
• Mesh sieve (not needed if using already powdered raspberries)
• Piping bag and tips (optional, I used a gallon-sized ziplock bag for a piping bag)

*This recipe has been tested in a dry climate at about 3000 feet of altitude. If you live in a different climate, you may need to adjust the recipe accordingly for best results.

**My family's recipe calls for buttermilk, which I never have around. So, I always substitute by mixing 1 cup of milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. If you have buttermilk, you can just use 1 cup of buttermilk and skip this step.

***Although many different kinds/brands of chocolate may be used, be aware that low quality chocolate/chocolate chips may skew your results. When in doubt, do some research.

****I was unable to find powdered freeze-dried raspberries locally, so I bought freeze-dried raspberries and powdered them myself using a food processor and sieve. If you want to use already powdered raspberries, substitute 1/4 cup (add 1 tablespoon at a time to taste, as the powder may be finer or more concentrated), and skip the relevant step.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the oven is preheating, measure out 1 cup of dairy milk and mix in 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Allow this mixture to sit for about 5 minutes at room temperature. This is your "buttermilk" (skip this step if using real buttermilk).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and salt.* Once combined, make a well in the center by pushing the mixture to the sides of the bowl with a spoon.

In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, egg, and oil (I just mixed everything in the measuring cup, but you could use a separate bowl if that's easier for you). It's ok if the mixture separates a little bit, but it should be pretty well-blended.

Add the wet mixture to the well in the dry mixture, and gently stir to combine. Avoid over-stirring. Add the hot coffee to the batter and mix gently until just combined.**

Scoop about 1/3 cup of cupcake batter into each hollow of the cupcake tin. Bake for about 20 minutes (you may need to increase or decrease the time depending on your oven) until the tops of the cupcakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.*** Let the cupcakes cool completely.

*If any of your dry ingredients are clumpy, sift them through a fine-mesh sieve to ensure they're well-incorporated.

**Be sure to reheat the coffee to boiling in the microwave or on the stovetop if it's not freshly-made. It should be boiling hot!

***Avoid opening the oven door until the end of the baking time as this can cause the cupcakes to fall.

Add the chocolate to a medium-sized mixing bowl (be sure that the chocolate is at room temperature and chopped into small pieces if using a chocolate bar).*

In a separate microwave-safe bowl (or measuring cup😊), heat the heavy whipping cream in the microwave for 1 minute at half power. Stir the cream and repeat 2 times for a total of three minutes.**

Once the cream is hot, pour it over the chocolate. Stir together with a dry spoon until it becomes smooth and consistent. It will look very grainy at first, but after a couple of minutes of stirring, it should become smooth. Let this mixture cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes until it thickens.

*It's important to avoid having any water in this process (ie. on the bowl, in the chocolate, on the stirring spoon, etc.) to keep the chocolate from seizing.

**The actual time and power level may be adjusted as necessary - the goal is to get the cream hot without burning it. This could also be done on the stovetop over medium-low heat.

Add the freeze-dried raspberries to a food processor. Blend on high until the raspberries become a fine powder with seeds mixed in. Sift this powder through a sieve to remove the seeds, and set aside to add to the frosting.

In the stand mixer bowl, blend together the softened butter and cream cheese. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and whip until a smooth frosting forms. Add in 1/4 cup of the powdered raspberries and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and blend until smooth. Use the rubber spatula to scoop the frosting into a piping bag (or gallon-sized ziplock bag in my case) fitted with a star tip.

To assemble the final cupcake, use a butter knife to cut a small hole in the center of the cooled cupcake. Remove a small cylinder of cake and replace with ganache.* Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake as desired (here I show a spiral-pattern technique). Finish out your masterpiece with fresh raspberries, chocolate, and more raspberry powder to garnish.

*The ganache should be moldable - not liquid, but not hard either.

Viola! Fancy cupcakes bursting with bright and rich complementary flavors and beautiful natural colors. I've attached a downloadable pdf with the simplified version of the recipe to make it easy for you to reproduce these tasty cupcakes. I hope you give them a try, and let me know how they turn out in the comments below. Enjoy. 😊