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These raspberry cupcakes are soft, fluffy, and filled with bursts of raspberry flavor. They're topped with a creamy raspberry frosting and perfect for any occasion!
I love cupcakes! You can never go wrong with a classic Vanilla Cupcake or if I'm craving chocolate, I love making Chocolate Orange Cupcakes. But once in a while, when I'm feeling fancy and craving fresh, summery flavors, raspberry cupcakes just hit the spot.
I love this raspberry cupcake recipe because it works for so many occasions. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, Fourth of July...did I forget any others?! So let's make them!
Why These Raspberry Cupcakes Work
- These cupcakes use fresh raspberries or frozen fresh raspberries, so they can be made year round, not just when raspberries are in season!
- The cupcakes are naturally flavored and topped with a creamy raspberry buttercream made from real raspberries.
- This recipe has been tested to work with either dairy free ingredients or regular dairy ingredients
Ingredient Notes
I don't recommend any substitutions to most of the ingredients in this recipe, as it will affect the texture of the cupcakes, but here are a few notes about the ingredients:
- Butter: You can use regular unsalted butter or dairy free butter for both the cupcakes and the buttercream
- Milk: I like to use unsweetened soy milk, but you can use any dairy free milk that you have on hand or regular dairy milk
- Raspberries: These cupcakes should be made with frozen raspberries, but if you only have fresh raspberries, you can freeze before making the cupcakes so that they don't bleed into the batter. For the buttercream, fresh raspberries work great, or you can thaw your frozen raspberries so that they can be easily pureed. You can also use freeze-dried raspberries in the buttercream.
- Vegetable Shortening: This helps keep the buttercream more firm, which is especially helpful if you are using vegan butter. If you prefer not to use shortening, you can replace this with regular butter but you may have to play around with the consistency of the buttercream.
Step by Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F, then combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set it aside for later. In the bowl of a standing mixer or handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light in color and fluffy (1-2 minutes).
STEP TWO: Beat in the two eggs and egg white then add in the vanilla extract and the milk.
STEP THREE: Add the dry ingredients into the batter and mix it all together - careful not to overmix! The batter will be thick.
STEP FOUR: Remove the raspberries from the freezer and toss them with 1 tbsp of flour in a small bowl. This step helps ensure the raspberries don't sink to the bottom of the cupcakes.
STEP FIVE: For bright pops of colour like in the pictures, don't fold the raspberries directly into the batter. First, scoop the batter into the muffin liners until they are half way full, then gently push 3-5 raspberries into each one. (Alternatively, you can fold them in very gently so that the color doesn't bleed into the cupcake batter)
STEP SIX: Bake for 16-22 minutes. You'll know they're ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out completely clean! Let the cupcakes cool completely while you make the buttercream.
STEP SEVEN: Mix the thawed or fresh raspberries in a blender or food processor until they become a puree.
STEP EIGHT: Add the raspberry puree to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil on medium heat.
STEP NINE: Reduce the heat to low/simmer and stir every few minutes until there is about half as much raspberry puree as there was in the beginning. This could take anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
STEP TEN: To remove the seeds, pour the raspberry puree into a bowl through a mesh strainer, pushing it through the strainer with a spoon. You might have to scrape the raspberry puree off of the underside of the strainer. You'll have around 4 tbsp of puree.
STEP ELEVEN: While the puree is cooling, beat the butter and vegetable shortening in a mixing bowl until they're fully combined.
STEP TWELVE: Beat in the puree, then add in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time. Continue adding powdered sugar until the buttercream reaches your desired consistency.
FAQS and Expert Tips
Yes! To make the buttercream with dehydrated raspberries, there are less steps involved so it's actually quite easy! Place around 1 cup of freeze-dried raspberries into a blender or food processor and grind them up into a powder (if there are a few small chunks that's okay).
Egg yolks add more fat to the cupcakes, which gives them a heavier texture instead of that light and fluffy texture that we want in a cupcake!
Sure! These cupcakes also go great with vanilla buttercream or coconut whipped cream! You can even decorate them with fresh raspberries!
The reason the raspberries are boiled down is to prevent excess water from making the buttercream liquid. If you buttercream is runny, you likely didn't boil them down enough. Try refrigerating the buttercream before frosting the cupcakes to let it firm up more.
Expert Tips
- Properly measure your flour - Over-measuring your flour will lead to dry cupcakes, which is why I highly recommend a $15 kitchen scale. If you don't have one, use the fluff, scoop, and level method to measure your flour. Scooping the flour right out of the bag using a measuring cup will result in too much flour!
- Careful not to over-mix - When making the cupcakes, the dry ingredients should be mixed into the wet ingredients only until just combined. This is key to getting fluffy cupcakes!
- Fill the liners only to halfway - It's going to look like not enough cupcake batter, but filling the liners halfway prevents the batter from overflowing over the top.
- Optional: Don't fold the raspberries directly into the batter - I think the cupcakes look extra pretty when there aren't streaks of blue/purple color throughout. It takes a few more minutes, but manually pushing a few raspberries into the batter after it's been scooped into the liners (instead of folding all the berries in before) will give you cupcakes just like in the pictures!
- Refrigerate the buttercream before frosting the cupcakes - This helps it to firm up quite a bit so that it's easier to work with. Refrigerate for 20 minutes at least or even overnight.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
The frosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Storing the cupcakes in the fridge will dry them out so I don't recommend that.
These cupcakes can be frozen for up to 2 months. Wrap the unfrosted cupcakes individually in plastic wrap then put them all in an airtight freezer bag. To defrost, just remove them from the freezer, unwrap each one and place them on a cooling rack at room temperature.
The vegan raspberry buttercream can be frozen in an airtight container as well - then thaw it in the refrigerator and mix it with your beater again to bring back the fluffiness!
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If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me in your picture on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Raspberry Cupcakes
Equipment
- Blender or Food Processor
- Muffin tin
- Standing or handheld mixer
- Small Saucepan
- Mesh Sieve/Strainer
Ingredients
Raspberry Cupcakes
- ¼ cup +2 tbsp butter (regular or vegan) (85 g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup milk of choice (regular or vegan) (240 ml)
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup + 1 tbsp all purpose flour, seperated (245 g + 9 g) SEE NOTES
- ¾-1 cup raspberries, frozen* SEE NOTES
Raspberry Buttercream
- 2½ cups raspberries* SEE NOTES
- 1 cup butter (vegan or regular) (210 g)
- ½ cup vegetable shortening (100 g)
- 3-3½ cup powdered sugar (icing sugar) (390g -450 g)
Instructions
Raspberry Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with 12 liners. Line a second muffin tin with 3 more liners - this recipe makes 15 cupcakes.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 ¾ flour, baking powder, and salt and set it aside.
- In the bowl of a standing or handheld mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, around 1-2 minutes. Add in the eggs and egg white, one at a time, then add in the vanilla extract and milk.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix!
- Put 1 tbsp of flour in a seperate bowl and toss the frozen raspberries in it until they are covered in flour. If the raspberries are really big you can break them up a little bit, but not too small.
- Fill the muffin tins ½ way with cupcake batter then push 3-5 raspberries into each one. This will create perfectly white cupcakes with bright pops of raspberry. You can also fold the raspberries right into the batter before filling the muffin liners, but this will create streaks of color throughout the cupcakes.
- Bake the cupcakes for 16-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely while you make the Raspberry Buttercream.
Raspberry Buttercream
- Pour the raspberries into a blender or food processor until fully pureed. Add the pureed raspberries to a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Allow the raspberries to boil for 30 seconds then turn the heat down to a low simmer. Continue stirring every few minutes for between 5-15 minutes, or until the amount of raspberry puree is about ½ of the original amount.
- Remove the puree from the heat and push it through a mesh strainer into a small bowl, leaving behind the seeds. You may have to scrape the underside of the strainer to get the puree into the bowl. You should have around 3-4 tbsp of puree.
- Let the puree cool completely, then add butter and shortening to the bowl of a standing or handheld mixer. Beat them together until smooth, then add in the puree, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add in powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time. If the buttercream is too thin, add more powdered sugar, 2 tbsp at a time until you get the desired consistency. You can also refrigerate it before frosting the cupcakes to firm it up more.
- Frost the cupcakes and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
These cupcakes are remarkably fluffy!!
Yay, thank you so much!
These look so beautiful and delicious. I feel like they belong on the cover of a baker's romance novel! SO pretty <3
Hi Sarah! Thank you so much for saying so, that's a wonderful compliment! 🙂
Please help me understand where the 1 cup of milk goes that is in the ingredient list for the cupcakes? It is not mentioned anywhere in instructions.
It goes in with the vanilla and the eggs, right before the dry ingredients! 🙂
The perfect summer cupcake does exist!! Thank you for bringing this into my life!!
Hi! I'm so happy to hear that you loved the cupcakes - thank you so much for trying them out! 🙂