Raspberry Cupcakes Recipe

I first made raspberry cupcakes last year, with a basic vanilla cupcake recipe and fresh raspberries juiced into a fondant icing. This was, if I recall, my first attempt at dipping cupcakes using a pouring fondant, or dipping fondant. The fresh raspberry juice gave a beautiful taste and colour to the icing, and turned out to be surprisingly easy. Once your icing is at the right consistency, pour into a bowl and dip the cupcakes in, a little further than you would think to cover the entire top.

Not too shabby! A fresh raspberry on top with fondant flower and leaf – both made with a cutter.

Although they were good, all the raspberry taste came from the frosting. Baking fresh raspberries into cupcakes isn’t so successful – they loose their beautiful colour, the taste isn’t as good and  baked fruit can make small cupcakes very soggy. So the last raspberry cupcakes I made I used freeze dried raspberries.

Freeze dried berries and fruits are amazing to bake with – it keeps its colour and the taste is very intense. I topped the cupcakes with butter cream icing, to which I added a good handful of freeze dried raspberries that had be ground to a rough powder with a mortar and pestle. Then I piped them to look (kinda) like raspberries.

The ones behind were lavender with a butter cream. I halved the cake mix and instead of adding the broken up rasberries, I added some food grade lavender, and some lavender syrup. The frosting was half the plain butter cream, again substituting the raspberry for lavender.

Here’s the recipe:

Raspberry Victoria Sponge Cupcakes

A raspberry twist on the classic Victoria sponge, which also makes great cupcakes.

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Serves: 6 in cake or 12 cupcakes Preparation time: 15 mins Cooking time: 15 to 20 mins

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Ingredients

115g/4 oz butter
115g/4 oz caster sugar
115g/4 oz self raising flour
2 eggs, beaten and at room temperature
1-2 tablespoons tepid water
splash of good vanilla extract
generous handful (or two) of very roughly ground/chopped freeze dried raspberries

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Method

1. Preheat oven to 180F/350C and prepare 2 x 6 inch sandwich tins, with baking parchment or 12 -15 cupcake cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar well, until pale and fluffy.
3. Add beaten egg, a little at a time, and if mixture threatens to curdle, add a little of the flour (1-2 tablespoons), and add the vanilla.
4. Fold in the remaining flour, and add enough of the water so that the mix is of a slow dropping consistency.
5. Divide mixture between tins, or half fill cupcake cases.
6. Bake sandwich tins for 20 mins, cupcakes for 15-18 until well risen and a skewer comes away clean.
7. When cool, decorate with raspberry butter cream frosting, and try the cake with fresh raspberries and cream in the middle.