As I was scanning Pinterest for baking recipes over winter break, I stumbled upon these pretty little chocolate raspberry cupcakes. I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a delicious treat with both whimsical pink frosting, chocolate, and Nutella – and let me tell you that these cupcakes are just as tasty as they are beautiful!
The gorgeous light pink color of the frosting comes from raspberry preserves. I am generally not a huge berry fan, but I thought that the subtle raspberry taste of the vanilla buttercream paired really well with the chocolate and Nutella in the cake.
I also love that when you pipe the frosting onto the cakes, they look like little roses (I use a Wilton 1M closed-star tip to pipe the frosting)! How cute would a tray of these be for a Valentine’s Day party, topped with some heart-shaped sprinkles or fresh raspberries?
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the cake, since it involves hot coffee and I’m not a huge fan of coffee either. Are you wondering why I made these cupcakes since I don’t raspberries or coffee? Yeah, me too (it was really the pink frosting that drew me in), but I’m so glad I did! The coffee in the batter really brings out the chocolate flavor and adds so much moisture to the cake. The semi-sweet chocolate flavor of the cake (don’t expect a box-mix level sweetness here) is perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the raspberry vanilla buttercream.
And see where the frosting dips down into the cake in the photo above? That, my friends, is where the Nutella goes after the cakes have cooled. While a raspberry chocolate cupcake would have been perfectly nice, why not add an extra dimension of chocolate nuttiness with a scoop of Nutella before you pipe the frosting? Any cupcake where you get to add a surprise dollop of Nutella is a good cupcake in my book.
The recipe for these cupcakes can be found below (recipe from Handle The Heat) with my comments in bold!
Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes (Yields 12 Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup (1 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup (3.38 oz) bread flour (I just used regular all-purpose flour)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup Nutella
For the buttercream:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I didn’t sift)
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves (I used Santa Cruz Organic Seedless Raspberry Preserves, found in the jelly aisle at Target!)
Red food coloring, if desired (I added some to enhance the pink color)
Directions
For the cupcakes:
Place the chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl. Pour hot coffee over the mixture. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth then set aside to cool completely.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with foil or paper liners.
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together.
Whisk the oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until smooth. Using a spring-loaded scoop or a large spoon, divide the batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (The batter will be very liquid-y, but will bake just fine!).
Bake until cupcakes are set and firm to the touch, about 17 to 19 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely (If you don’t cool completely, the Nutella will soak into the cake). Using an apple corer or pairing knife (a pairing knife works fine), slice a small section of the center of the cupcake for the Nutella, being careful not to slice through the bottom. Fill each hole with 1 heaping teaspoon of Nutella.
For the buttercream:
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Gradually add the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Add the raspberry preserves and beat until light and fluffy. For a more saturated color, add a few drops of red food coloring, if desired (I ended up adding ~12 drops).
Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fit with a decorating piping tip, such as the Wilton 1M tip. Pipe frosting directly onto the stuffed cupcakes. Serve or store at room temperature for a day or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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