Chocolate Raspberry Cuppycakes

I made these for a friend's birthday. Only I've been a little behind on things, and so I made her the "birthday" cupcakes about 5 months late. She did say they were worth the wait, though. ;-)





Chocolate Raspberry Cuppycakes
(Borrowed from Sweetest Kitchen - makes 12 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS
* 125g soft unsalted butter
* 100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
* 300g raspberry jam (I used seedless)
* 150g caster sugar
* pinch of salt
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 150g self-rising flour


INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350F. (Note: I usually preheat my oven to 25 degrees lower than what recipes say, because it runs about 10 degrees hot and also I use nonstick bakeware. So I actually baked these at 325.)

Melt butter in a double boiler. When nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. Stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted. Now add the raspberry jam, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon and when all is pretty well amalgamated stir in the flour.

Put batter in lined cupcake pan. Do not overfill! I estimate you want to put no more than 1.5 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner. Bake for about 25 minutes (it was 26-28 for me). Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a rack.

Cool cupcakes completely. Fill cupcakes with raspberry whipped cream using the cone method, then frost with the chocolate ganache icing (recipes are below).


Raspberry Whipped Cream Filling

INGREDIENTS
* 1/2 cup ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream
* 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 tablespoon granulated white sugar
* 1/4 cup lightly sweetened raspberry puree (recipe below)

To make the raspberry puree:

Thaw 24 oz (680 grams) of frozen unsweetened raspberries in a large fine-meshed strainer suspended over a large bowl. (This may take a few hours.) Once the berries have completely thawed, force the juice from the berries by gently pressing them with the back of a large spoon. All that should remain in the strainer is the raspberry seeds.

Throw away the raspberry seeds and and stir in 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar. Sweeten more if necessary, to taste. (For extra flavor you can also add a little raspberry liqueur.)

Store covered in the refrigerator up to a week, or freeze up to a year. Makes approximately 1 3/4 cups (420 ml).

To make the raspberry whipped cream filling:

In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat only until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened raspberry puree a little at a time, and beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. Taste and fold in more sugar or puree, if required.


Chocolate Ganache Icing

INGREDIENTS
* 100g dark chocolate
* 100ml double cream
* 12 fresh raspberries, optional


INSTRUCTIONS

Break the chocolate for the icing into little pieces and add them to the cream in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and then whisk – by hand or electrically – until thick and smooth. Ice the cupcakes, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon, and stand a raspberry in the center of each.



Here's a bonus picture of a whole dozen cuppycakes.

Cookie Dough Cuppycakes, Part Deux

I've made cookie dough cupcakes before, but this time I decided to try a different recipe. This recipe was shamelessly stolen from the blog "How to Eat a Cupcake."



I've never made whipped cream frosting before, so I was quite proud that I succeeded in making it without collapsing my whipped cream. The reason these cupcakes are a little uglier than usual is that I wasn't sure that whipped cream frosting could be piped without destroying it.




Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes
(Adapted from Chocolate Cupcakes at MarthaStewart.com - makes 12 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS
* 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs, room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup whole milk


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla, and mix until combined.

3. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, followed by milk; end with remaining flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).

4. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Place a ball of frozen cookie dough (I used 1-oz pieces of pre-made, pre-sliced frozen cookie dough) on top of each cup (do not push it in). Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center of a cupcake (but not in the cookie dough) comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



The cupcakes, cooling on my baker's rack.


Cookie Dough Frosting

INGREDIENTS

Eggless cookie dough:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, plus 2 tbsp
4 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

Whipped Cream Frosting:
3 cups heavy whipping cream
16 oz cream cheese, softened
2.5 cups granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla


INSTRUCTIONS

For the cookie dough, cream the butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add water and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt and stir to combine. Stir in 2/3 cup Mini Morsels. Wrap the dough in waxed paper and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Break dough into 1/4 teaspoon sized chunks and place the chunks on a plate or in a plastic container, separating layers with waxed paper.
Store them in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the frosting, in a medium bowl (a cold bowl with cold beaters) beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat); set aside. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Fold the frozen cookie dough chunks into the frosting and immediately frost the cooled cupcakes.