RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

I’m 39 weeks today!!!  Yay!!!!  I sure can’t wait to meet our little girl… and see my feet again.  I’ve been totally in that nesting phase for the last week so she should come soon, right?  The other weekend I even spent about 2 hours cleaning our car… just the inside.  Sadly I can’t even remember the last time I vacuumed it out and with a toddler that is just gross.  Many goldfish crumbs and even some dried up half eaten cheese sticks were found.  Ewww, I know.  But it’s all good now because I vacuumed in every nook and cranny, wiped down every plastic surface, and even the got the hose and scrub brush out for the mats.  I feel like we have a new car!  Oh and then we installed the infant car seat.  That was the whole purpose behind me cleaning the car.  Gosh it feels good to have a clean car… almost as good as I feel while eating one of these Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes!

The combination of chocolate and raspberries is to die for!  In truffles, cake, ice cream…  It makes me weak at the knees!  I made these cupcakes a few times trying to find the perfect chocolate cupcake and frosting combo.  I wanted a cupcake that was rich, moist, held together well, and had a good rounded top (for looks)… and this is it!  The raspberry cream cheese frosting is divine and similar to this blackberry one.  It’s color is all natural from the pureed raspberries making it the most beautiful pale pink.  Doesn’t the color pink just make you smile?

Um and lets discuss that smooth, shinny ganache that’s making you drool.  “Ganache” is such a fancy word and can seem intimidating to make but it’s actually the easiest part of this recipe!  To make ganache you just throw your favorite chocolate in a bowl (I prefer dark chocolate for ganache) and then pour hot whipping cream over it and let it sit for 2 minutes.  After two minutes the chocolate has warmed up and melted so with a few seconds of whisking you have gorgeous ganache.  Add this stuff to anything and you’ve made your dessert 597 times better.


Ingredients

  • For the Cupcakes:
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate chopped
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • For the Frosting:
  • 3 1/2 to 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter room temperature
  • 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
  • 3-4 tablespoons raspberry puree I mash up about 1/2 cup whole raspberries
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • For Ganache:
  • 4 ounces about 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • For Garnish:
  • 15 raspberries

Instructions
For the Cupcakes:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 15 cupcake liners.
  2. Mix flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
  3. Place butter, chocolate, and cocoa together in a bowl and pour boiling water on top. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit two minutes. Mix until smooth and then add in the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
  4. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry until smooth.
  5. Pour 1/4 cup batter into each paper liner. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Leave cupcakes in tin for 5 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.
  7. Meanwhile, make the frosting and ganache.

For the Ganache:

  1. Place chocolate in a bowl and pour hot whipping cream on top. Let it sit for two minutes and then stir until smooth. Let the ganache come to room temperature (about 5-10 minutes) before applying to cupcakes.

For the Frosting:

  1. Puree the 1/2 cup raspberries in a food process, blender, or with a hand blender. If you don't want seeds in your frosting, press the puree through a strainer held over a bowl (this takes a few minutes). You should be left with 3 tablespoons seed free raspberry puree. I added some seeds back because I thought it looked pretty but you can just discard the seeds.
  2. Beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add powdered sugar a little at a time while beating and cream for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons raspberry puree and the vanilla and beat until completely combined. Add remaining raspberry puree if frosting needs to be thinned, otherwise, discard remaining. Place frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip.

To Assemble:

  1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, spoon 1-2 teaspoons ganache onto each cupcake, spreading it to almost the edge of the cupcake. Pipe frosting on top of each cupcake and then spoon 1 teaspoon ganache over the top and press a berry in. Serve. Cupcakes with berries on that are not eaten within a few hours should be refrigerated. Another option is to store the cupcakes at room temperature in an air tight container and add the raspberries just before serving.


thanks done share recipes to : https://www.garnishandglaze.com/raspberry-chocolate-cupcakes//