Raspberry Pink Cupcakes
This year when I asked Boo what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she said “Pink!”. Pink cake with pink icing. I wanted to make something with natural colour and flavour, so I tried a recipe made of raspberry muffin bottoms with a lemon and raspberry icing on top. I also decided for mini-cupcakes, but since I had a bit more than enough batter for 24 mini cupcakes, I made 2 regular size cupcakes in a couple of ramekins, and they were great too—they just needed to stay in the oven a few more minutes.
Recipes
Raspberry Cupcakes
This is a modified version of Emeril Legasse’s recipe for Blueberry-Raspberry Muffins with Streusel Topping minus the blueberries and the streusel. The lemon zest and the hint of cinnamon make this a great recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups cake flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cup fresh raspberries (or less)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place 24 mini-cupcake metal cups with paper liners intact on a cookie sheet or else line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. If you use ramekins, grease the inside of the ramekins with butter and dust them with flour.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Beat the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy and light. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the buttermilk and lemon zest and mix to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just to combine. (Batter will still be somewhat lumpy; do not overmix.) Gently fold in the raspberries so the berries do not break open and pour into the prepared muffin tins. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes for mini cupcakes or 20 minutes for standard cupcakes.
Let cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on wire racks.
Lemon Frosting
Ingredients
3/4 cup (6 ounces) cream cheese, chilled
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Approximately 1/4 cup Raspberry Drizzle (optional)
To prepare the frosting, combine cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, lemon rind, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and dash of salt in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar; beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat).
To turn the Lemon Frosting into Pink Lemonade Frosting, beat in a small amount of Raspberry Drizzle until you get the colour you want.
Raspberry Drizzle
Ingredients
1/2 cup of Lemon Frosting
1/2 cup of fresh raspberries
To prepare the drizzle, place the raspberries in a wire sieve over a mixing bowl. Using a spatula, press the raspberries through a wire sieve with spaces wide enough that you can press the berry juice through leaving the seeds behind. Stir small amounts of Lemon Frosting bit by bit until you get the consistency you want.
When the cupcakes have cooled, frost the tops with the Pink Lemonade Frosting. Use a small spoon to drizzle on the Raspberry Drizzle. Top with one perfect raspberry.
Notes
You need about 2 of the 12 oz. baskets of raspberries for the muffins, frosting, and the garnish.
It was tricky getting the cupcake batter in the mini muffin tins. Normally, you fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full, but I filled them nearly to the top because the raspberries take up so much of the space. You could cut the amount of raspberries in half if you’d like more cake with just a bit of raspberry.
