Raspberry Cupcakes

cupcake with raspberry frosting and raspberry on top

A perfectly soft and tender cupcake filled with raspberry flavor and topped with a delicious raspberry buttercream frosting. The best cupcakes!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings cupcakes

Calories 354kcal

Author Jenna Shaughnessy

Ingredients

For The Cupcakes

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour sifted
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup unsalted butter softened
2 large eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk room temperature
½ cup freeze dried raspberries crushed

For The Raspberry Frosting

¾ cup freeze dried raspberries
6 oz unsalted butter softened
2½ cups confectioner's sugar sifted
3 tablespoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
12 fresh raspberries for decorating

Instructions

To Make The Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set mixture aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on, mix together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well with each addition. Add the vanilla and mix on high speed until well combined. If the mixture looks curdled, mix a little longer, but I won't impact the final cupcake.
Reduce speed to medium and add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing between each addition until just incorporated.
Scrape down the bowl, add the freeze dried raspberries, and mix until fully combined and smooth.
Fill each cupcake liner about ⅔ full with the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully before frosting.

To Make The Frosting

Place freeze dried raspberries in a food processor or blender and pulse until a fine powder. Alternatively, put the raspberries in a baggie and roll with a rolling pin to crush into a powder.
Push the raspberry powder through a fine mesh sieve to separate the seeds from the powder. Discard the seeds.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or using an electric hand mixer, beat butter on high speed until smooth and creamy.
Turn the speed down to medium and add raspberry powder and 1 cup of confectioner's sugar.
Gradually add the rest of the confectioner's sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and beating until well incorporated.
Add vanilla, salt and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. Beating on low-medium, add remaining cream by the teaspoon until desired consistency is reached.
Turn speed up the high and beat well for 2 minutes.

Notes

Once the flour is added to the cupcakes, it's important not to over mix the batter, as this could result in a chewy cupcake.

Instead of having to sift the freeze dried raspberries, you can use raspberry powder. You'll need about 1/3 cup for the cupcakes and another 1/3 cup for the frosting.

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