It’s that time of the year, where everything turns red and love is in the air and what better to celebrate with than Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes, perfect for this season. Raspberry and chocolate are each superstars in their own right, but when they come together, the bright flavour of the berries is a perfect compliment to the rich flavour of the chocolate. These bold flavours are perfectly accompanied by the softer rose water making for a well rounded cupcake.
Spoil yourself and that someone special this Valentines Day with this bombshell of a cupcake.
Chocolate the aphrodisiac?
While chocolate does contain the chemicals phenylethylamine and serotonin, which does help to boost your mood and can even make you feel euphoric, the aphrodisiac part of chocolate is more to do with the sensory part of the experience; that intoxicating smell of chocolate and having that sweet and velvety flavour it melt in your mouth.
Links for ingredients in this recipe
Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes
- Chocolate cupcakes: not your regular moist cupcakes, more like a fluffy chocolate cake. These are perfect for filling up with delightful sweet fillings like jams or caramel sauce.
- Raspberry & Rose Jam filling: A slightly sweet and sticky raspberry jam filling, can be made with frozen or fresh berries. If you don’t like raspberries you can swap it with strawberry Jam. You can also always use store bought Jam. The subtle floral notes from the rose just takes this to the next level.
- Crème fraîche Vanilla Bean Frosting: Lastly keeping it all simple, to highlight the flavours of chocolate and raspberry with the ever so delicate flavour of the crème fraîche. You can find crème fraîche at most grocery stores and if you cannot find. I have a DIY post on how to make crème fraîche.
- Garnishes: there is no formula for this, add some raspberry jam, few petals of edible rose or rose buds (to be honest, they pick them off the cupcakes in my house). Crumble bits of freeze dried raspberries or even a few raspberries on top. Not a fan of garnish, no problem as the cakes are just downright delicious without garnishes.
Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry jam filling and creme fraiche frosting; garnished with raspberry jam
Ingredients
Raspberry and rose Jam Filling
- 350 gm Raspberries
- 200 gm Granulated Sugar 1 cup
- 2 tsp Rose Water
- ½ tsp Lemon juice
- 120 ml Water ½ cup
Chocolate Cupcakes (24 standard size)
- 175 gm Salted Butter 1½ stick Butter
- 60 ml oil ¼ cup
- 200 gm Granulated Sugar 1 cup
- 3 L Eggs
- 90 ml Buttermilk ⅓ cup
- 60 ml Hot Espresso ¼ cup
- 115 gm Semi sweet chocolate block (melted) 4 oz.
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 240 gm Cake Flour 2 cups
- 30 gm Black Cocoa powder 2 tbsp
Crème fraîche Vanilla Bean Frosting
- 580 gm Crème fraîche 2 cups
- 100 gm Icing sugar 1 cup
- 240 ml Heavy Cream/ Whipping Cream 1 cup
- 2 tsp Vanilla bean paste/ extract/ 1 pod Vanilla bean
Garnish
- Raspberry rose jam
- rose petals
- freeze dried raspberries
Instructions
Raspberry and rose Jam Filling
In a heavy bottomed pan; add the raspberries, sugar, water and lemon juice. Let it cook for 15 mins on medium heat.
If you want it less seedy in the jam: Strain 3/4 of the hot raspberry syrup and cook the stained raspberry puree with the rest of the jam.
If you don't mind the seeds, just let it cook until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the rose water into the pan. Let it cook until it thickens. Once cooked thick, add to a clean sterilised bottle and cool it until needed.
Chocolate Cupcakes (24 standard size)
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180° C. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a bowl fitted with the paddle attachment on a stand mixer. Add the butter, oil and sugar, cream the ingredients for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy on medium speed.
Add and beat one egg at a time. Add the buttermilk and melted chocolate into the bowl. (This is your wet ingredients)
Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa and baking powder), sift it into the wet ingredients in small batches and mix thoroughly.
Finally add the hot espresso into the bowl and make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.
Fill all the cupcake liners upto ¾ th of the cupcake liner. Bake for 18 minutes and remove from oven once its completely baked.
Check with a wooden skewer to see if the cupcakes are completely baked.
Crème fraîche Vanilla Bean Frosting
In a bowl fitted with a whisk attachment on a stand mixer, add the Crème fraîche and icing sugar. Start whisking on low speed for 1 minute.
Slowly increase the speed to medium and start adding heavy/ whipping cream into the bowl. Increase the speed to high and whisk for maybe 1-2 minutes (until its thick enough for plopping on the cupcake)
Chill the frosting until it is time for frosting the cupcakes.
Assembly
Using a paring knife or a cupcake corer, remove the centre of the cupcakes.
Fill the centre with raspberry and rose jam filling.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop Crème fraîche Vanilla Bean Frosting on to the cupcake.
Top the frosting with a drizzle of the raspberry and rose jam. Crumble a few freeze dried raspberries and rose petals.
Enjoy with your loved one or have one too many for yourself! Its self love too 🙂
Recipe Notes
Notes :
Raspberry and rose jam:
Add 50 gm (¼ gm) sugar if the raspberry jam is little too sour for your liking.
If you have any issues with thickening, you can add a tsp of pectin.
Buttermilk substitute 90 ml :
80 ml milk + 10 ml lemon juice/ vinegar. ( ⅓ cup milk + 2 tsp lemon juice/ vinegar)
Cake flour substitute 120 gm:
90 gm all purpose flour + 30 gm corn flour ( ¾ cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn flour) Read more
A few other fun Valentine’s recipes:
Happy Baking
xx