Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes

A sweet for my sweetie!

A couple days late for this Valentine's Day posting but the DH and I just got back from a quick trip to Sin City for a work convention. However, I think it is never too late to make a sweet treat for your sweetie! 

For this Valentine's Day I was set on making something with raspberries in it. My first attempt was chocolate-raspberry petits fours that ended up more like chocolate-raspberry mush once I coated them with poured fondant. Sigh. 

Second attempt, Vanilla-Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes. From this attempt I learned two things: 1) do not buy cupcake liners at the dollar store no matter how cute and, well, cheap they are; and 2) do not try to bake anything in a four-day-trip-to-Vegas exhausted state. Things will not turn out as expected.  

Everything started off fine. I decided to adapt one of my favorite vanilla cupcake recipes from Amy Sedaris' cookbook I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. If you have never looked at this cookbook, do. Not only are the recipes delicious but she offers some hilarious commentary on baking, hosting and life! Anyways, like I said the cupcake batter turned out great -- the perfect touch of vanilla -- and the raspberry filling was delicious -- sweet and just a little tart! The first blunder came when filling the cupcake liners. My cute, Valentine's Day liners turned into cheap, flimsy liners that caved in as I tried to fill them. I was able to salvage a few and supplemented a few silver liners I had on hand for the rest of the cupcakes. Problem averted...at least I thought. When I pulled the cupcakes out of the oven the cheap liners that I had managed to save had caved in during the baking process and were now partially baked into the cupcakes. Sigh. On the bright side, the six cupcakes cooked in the silver liners had survived the baking process and produced a beautiful raspberry swirl on top! 

I decided to frost my six surviving cupcakes with a raspberry buttercream. Thus occurred blunder number two. My buttercream was setting perfectly so I decided it was time to add the raspberry puree. In my Vegas-exhausted state I accidentally added double the amount of intended raspberry puree. I watched in horror as my beautiful Swiss Meringue Buttercream curdled from the excess acid in the raspberries. I guess it just wasn't my day to cook. I threw the whole batch out and spent the rest of the evening sulking in front of the television watching reruns of "Cupcake Wars."

With renewed spirit today, I decided to try and remake the buttercream. This time with the correct amount of raspberry puree, it turned out beautifully. After frosting the cupcakes, I thought they still looked a little under dressed for V-day and I decided to decorate them with a fondant cherry blossom that I made using Domestic Sugar's tutorial. When I took the first bite of my cupcake I decided that all the trouble of yesterday was worth it because they were DELICIOUS! The cupcake was moist and the buttercream had just the perfect hint of raspberry to compliment the filling. Overall, the whole process was a great learning experience. Not everything I bake is going to turn out perfect but that is no reason for me to give up and stop trying. 

I start my first day of baking school tomorrow so hopefully I will be posting more from here on out. Wish me luck and Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Live. Love. Bake.

Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes
Adapted from Amy Sedaris' Vanilla Cupcakes. Yields about 18.

Ingredients for raspberry filling

12 oz. fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries thawed
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tb. cornstarch
2 Tb. raspberry liqueur (I used Chambord) 


Ingredients for cupcake

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tb. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature


Ingredients for raspberry buttercream

4 egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup of butter 
pinch of salt 
1/4 cup raspberry filling or puree 


Method

1. For the filling: In a small sauce pan, combine raspberries, water, sugar and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble; about 10 minutes. Remember to stir frequently so that the mixture doesn't burn. Remove from heat. Place a fine strainer over a bowl and pour the raspberry mixture in the strainer. Using the back of your spoon, press the mixture through the strainer so that the seedless pulp goes into the bowl and the seeds remain in the strainer. Let cool completely. Add the raspberry liqueur. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using. 
2. For the cupcake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and combine. In another bowl, combine sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Alternatively add the dry ingredients and the milk in three additions; begin and end with the flour. Mix the batter until smooth and silky.
3. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into cupcake liners.  Spoon about 2 teaspoons of raspberry filling on top of the batter. Top it off with another tablespoon of batter. Using a knife, swirl the raspberry filling and batter together just until it looks marbled. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. 
4. For the frosting: Cube the butter and leave out on the counter until it comes to room temperature. Fill a stock pot with about 3 inches of water and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat on the stove. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the egg whites and sugar. Place the bowl over the pot with the water (this creates a pseudo double-boiler). Whisk the egg whites and sugar continuously until a candy thermometer reaches 160 degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, this will be when the sugar is completely dissolved and the egg whites are warm to the touch. 
5. Transfer the bowl back to your stand mixer. Using a whisk attachment, whisk the mixture at medium speed until the mixture is at room temperature (the bowl will feel neutral to your touch); about 10 minutes. Lower the speed and add the butter one cube at a time. Keep mixing until there is a consistency change in the mixture, from soupy to more solid. If you are having a hard time reaching this consistency, put the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes and try again. When the buttercream  has reached the desired consistency, add the vanilla and salt. Mix until combined. Slowly add the raspberry filling and mix until just combined so that the buttercream doesn't curdle. Refrigerate until you need to use it. 
6. Frost and decorate your cupcakes as desired. Eat and yum!