Valentine’s cupcakes for your sweetheart, child, family, co-worker – am I missing anyone? Oh and your pets, although this Raspberry & Lemon Chocolate Cupcake won’t be appropriate for canines with the chocolate base and all, or maybe for any pet.
Lemon Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes
I just know that by way of tradition, I’m suppose to do something for the people in my life on this special day. Today and up until Valentine’s Day it will be you guys, lucky for me, because I don’t have dessert lovers in my everyday life. I know it’s something that my dessert-fixing hands can’t comprehend, especially since I love making highly stacked cupcakes like this.
My little guy looked at them and said, “I don’t like frosting, I don’t even like cupcakes”. I stopped crying over such statements long ago. Now it’s all about misdirection—I gave him one of the mini bites (no frosting) and told him it was donut. Not a total lie, er-misdirection, it did come out of a mini donut pan. So what, that it’s the same cupcake batter that he turns his nose up to.
You parents out there do that with savory foods like veggies all the time, right? Well I do that with desserts too. See, we aren’t so different.
A few notes:
- To shortcut this you can use store-bought lemon curd or use homemade.
- To finish the cupcake as seen in the picture I used a mini donut pan to make the chocolate ring you see on top of the frosting.
- I generally only fill my cupcakes a 1/3 of the way up, so that once they are baked the cupcake comes up just before the top of the lining. This allows me use the liner as a steady wall to hold up the piping. For this specific cupcake design, it’s especially helpful to hold the raspberries in place.
- If you are on the Vine app (only available on iPhone, my username: @bakersroyale), then you can find a quick clip where I show you how to frost these cupcakes.
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
Cupcake
- 1 cup (4.5 ounces) all purpose flour
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7.3 ounces) sugar
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 cup raspberry preserve (for filling cupcake once they are complete cooled)
Lemon Frosting
- 5 large egg whites
- 11/2 cup sugar
- 4 sticks unsalted butter, diced and softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup lemon curd, store bought or homemade (click here for a homemade step-by-step version)
Directions:
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- To make cupcake: Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. Add in the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add half of the water into the mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add remaining water. Beat for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin enough to pour. Pour batter into 11 wells and transfer remaining batter into a cup with a pouring spout and fill a mini donut pan 2/3 of the way up in each well. Bake cupcakes for 18-22 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Bake mini cupcake donuts for 10 minutes. Set the pans on a rack to cool. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool.
- To make lemon frosting: Combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water. Bring mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer)until mixture cools and doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking-this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again. Add salt and vanilla and mix to combine. Add in lemon curd and mix to combine.
- Assembly: Core out center of cooled cupcake and fill with raspberry preserves. Pipe frosting to desired finish.
Cupcake (adapted from Alice Medrich)
Welcome to my cozy corner where baking meets random thoughts and musings. I’m a self-taught baker sharing all things sweet (and some savory—okay, and cocktails) with a whisk in one hand and a camera in the other. 
I am a big fan of lemon and raspberry but honestly haven’t paired it with chocolate cake yet (usually white or yellow or even red velvet). These cupcakes look amazing!
Lemon and chocolate is such a great combination, and the sweet floral acidity of raspberries would be perfect. Your photos and styling are inspirational as always.
What lovely little gems! Can’t get over how adorable that little donut is!
Love the little cupcake bites! How cute are they?!
Beautiful! Love all things raspberry and chocolate.
I wish I was your neighbor, then you could just dump all these “undesirable” desserts on me heehee. These look fantastic and I love the use of fruity flavors with the chocolate. 😀 yum.
Those look amazing and my husband would love them buuut he was just diagnosed with diabeties. My job is to find a tasty sugar free dessert made with almond or coconut flour. If you happen to know any it would greatly appreciated.
These are so cute! I love the top of them and they look delicious.
Carlee
Almost Endearing
My Shop
Oh these look super delish!
These are so pretty! Love this flavour combo too
Gorgeous cupcakes! I loved your video on Vine showing how to frost these beauties!
These are gorgeous, Naomi! I love the little chocolate rings on top!
Oh my, these are lovely! I am keeping myself from drooling!
Ohhh, I have homemade lemon curd in my fridge right now! These sound amazing. Almost too pretty to eat.
Absolutely lovely!!!
These are so stunning, Naomi!
These look adorable!
Omgah! This is soo pretty! I feel your pain about sweets – Curtis doesn’t like cake. arghhh
Mmm, these are so cute! I love them! Lemon and raspberry are my absolute favorites, and who can say no to chocolate? Perfect combo!
I LOVED that you had the video on Vine for the how-to. I am totally digging that app and thing its going to be awesome for bloggers. Show a little clip of what’s coming up on a blog. I think its going to be huge!
Love these cupcakes and your tactics to get your kiddo to eat one. I always feel so sneaky when I try to trick my kids into eating something, luckily for me my girls are total sweets eaters like I am. So far at least.
I’ve got enough of a sweet tooth to make up for at lest two people, send ’em my way. 😉
Absolutely stunning! I love the cake pedestal that you have displayed these on. If you don’t mind me asking – where would I purchase one?
Naomi replied: — January 31st, 2013 @ 5:05 am
Laurie- I got it on Etsy.
I like the sound of the lemon, chocolate and raspberry combo! They look so good!
Fantastic looking cupcakes!!! Always love the combo of lemon, raspberry and chocolate!
I loved the Vine tutorial! These look wonderful.
Oooo, chocolate and lemon is such a sophisticated combo–LOVE IT!
Loved the tutorial on Vine! So pretty!
LOVE these!! I want to come over next time you are baking
Naomi replied: — January 31st, 2013 @ 5:05 am
Gaby-when you do bring the avocados!
I’m a big fan of them and all your recipes
Well, I’m not sure what else to do but drool. I need them in my life big time.
I loved your little Vine clip! it was a great tease. Keep it up. =)
These are beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to eat these? Love the mini on top!
I will happily devour all cupcakes your little dude doesn’t want from now ’til Valentine’s Day. I am digging the chocolate raspberry combo
Very nice Naomi! Perfect stacked cupcakes ~ they will make many valentines very happy…..even if not in your home 😉
I simply love these. The combination of flavors really remind me of summer for some reason. I think lemon and raspberry have this nostalgic feeling for me. Absolutely lovely
It’s so funny, isn’t it! That the people around you don’t have a penchant for sweets (craaazy, looking at yours!)… seems kind of like my life. The neighbours are happy though. 😉 Love your cupcakes and loved seeing them on Vine!
Hmm I keep gettin error messages when I visit your blog, hope its just temporary
Love the idea with the lemon frosting, will definitely make them for v-day!
Same thing with my bf, he told me he hates cream cheese frosting so I told him its normal vanilla frosting and he loved it -.- men …
I really enjoy your blog. I can’t wait to log on every day to see your pictures. They are so beautiful!!
Naomi replied: — February 4th, 2013 @ 9:27 pm
Cindy D-Thank you so much! That was such a sweet comment.
Love having you. Thank you for your readership.