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Growing up I was never a chocolate cake girl. I was vanilla cake or ice cream cake every birthday and honestly, up until recently, I was still a vanilla cake lover. Don’t get me wrong, I still looooovvvvee a fluffy vanilla cake, but my husband loves chocolate cake and I’ve been getting into it a bit more lately too. I do have a weakness for dark chocolate. Dark chocolate chips, dark chocolate covered espresso beans, and dark chocolate sea salt chocolates are always the key to my heart.
This week I was really in the mood to make some cupcakes. Every baker has their favorite things to bake and decorate. A couple of weeks ago I took a stab at a layer cake which is where I determined I don’t love making layered cakes. I don’t have enough practice or patience for it. I could watch others make and decorate cakes for hours though. The cake I attempted to make was an almond cake with a raspberry compote filling and almond American buttercream frosting. Some components were successful, and some, not so much. I will share the pictures of it anyway. Just know that it is not pretty. The raspberry compote came out really good. That was the success. I was going to use my regular vanilla cake recipe and add almond, but forgot to get some ingredients when I was at the store so I made a cake from scratch with what I had. The cake came out way too dense and I made an American buttercream which was way too sweet. I am starting to figure out all the different frosting types, but I don’t think I am a huge fan of American buttercream. I like a frosting that has a slight sweetness.
As requested, this week’s recipe is a chocolate cupcake with a raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream and I must say, I even wanted to go make for more. I also finally got the rosette technique down which I was so dang proud of. The cake recipe is easy peasy using a boxed cake mix with some additional ingredients to make it taste better. The Swiss meringue buttercream is the part that is a process and all I have to say is trust the process. The results are soooo yummy. I had some left over raspberry compote that I had frozen from the layered cake I tried making. I will share the recipe, but you will likely have some compote left over which you can freeze for your next baking adventure.
Chocolate cupcakes are such a good partner for all the yummy flavors. You can pair them with so many different flavors of frosting. In the future, I will try all the options. Chocolate coffee has been on my mind lately as a delicious pairing. This fluffy chocolate cupcake is so decadent and airy. It goes perfect with a Swiss meringue buttercream. It would also be great as a filled cupcake. As always, they were eaten up pretty quickly.
I hope you make and enjoy this cupcake recipe as much as I do and share it with friends and family. Be sure to share some photos with me on instagram of your creations.
Some of my Favorite Products used:
Fluffy Chocolate Cupcakes with a Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 box Chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Brand)
- ¾ cup Buttermilk
- ⅔ cup Sour cream
- 3 Eggs
- ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Cocoa powder
- ¼ cup AP flour
Raspberry Compote
- 4 cups Frozen raspberries
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Water
- +3 tbsp Water
- 3 tbsp Cornstarch
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 Large egg whites
- 2 cups Granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups Butter, softened but still cool
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 pinch Sea salt
Instructions
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat Oven to 350℉. Line a cupcake baking sheet with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix your wet ingredients (eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract and oil).
- Add in your dry ingredients (cake mix, cocoa powder, AP flour).
- Whisk together until just combined and there are no clumps.
- Fill your cupcake lines ¾ full. I used a cookie scoop for a less messy approach.
- Bake until your cake tester comes out the middle cupcake clean, about 18-22 minutes.
- Set aside to cool.
To make the Raspberry Compote:
- In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, add in the raspberries, sugar, and ¼ cup of water.
- Stir frequently until it begins to boil.
- Lower heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for about 12 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Use a metal strainer suspended over a medium bowl, push through the raspberry mixture using a rubber spatula to remove the seeds. Make sure you use a sieve style strainer.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the cornstarch with the 3 tbsps of water. Stir until the cornstarch is completely mixed in.
- Pour the cornstarch mix into the strained raspberry filling and mix well.
- Rinse out the sauce pan (to get out any left over seeds), then pour the raspberry compote mixture back into the pan.
- Heat the pan over medium-high heat again. Stir constantly so that it doesn't burn.
- Cook until it begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to stir for a few more minutes.
- Turn off the heat and pour back into the bowl to cool. I highly recommend letting it cool on the counter and then moving to the fridge to cool for an additional hour.
For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Start with 2 bowls, 1 larger one* and a small one. Separate your eggs. I used the small bowl to put the egg whites. Then I one by one add them to the larger bowl. This is in case one yolk breaks, you don't have to ruin your whole batch.
- Whisk the sugar into the egg whites.
- Set the heat friendly bowl (glass or stainless steel are my recommendations, but see my notes below) over a sauce pan filled with 2 inches of simmering water. Make sure the heat is set to medium. The bottom of your bowl should not be touching any of the water.
- Whisk the eggs white and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Test by dipping your clean finger into the bowl (caution: it can be hot). Rub between your fingers – When you don't feel any sugar granules, that is when you know it is done.
- Transfer directly to the mixer – if you used a bowl that doesn't fit on your mixer, transfer the sugar and egg white mixture to clean mixer bowl.
- Using the whisk attachment, on medium-high speed beat the mixture until stiff peaks form – about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Your meringue should be cooled a bit while whipping, but if its warmer than 70°, put the bowl in the fridge for a bit.
- Switch to the paddle attachment on your mixer. Cut your butter into tablespoon sized pieces.
- On medium-high speed, add in your butter 1 piece at a time. Make sure your piece of butter is incorporated before adding in another.
- After all the butter is added and mixed in, turn the mixer down to medium speed and add the vanilla and salt.
- Now you can add in your raspberry compote. Make sure the compote is room temperature when you add it. I used about 1 ½ – 2 cups of raspberry compote into the buttercream. Add a little at a time until you get the flavor and color you want.
- Cool your frosting in the bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Assemble:
- You can go fancy or not so fancy. To achieve the rosette on the top, fill a piping back with the frosting.
- In a separate piping bag, cut the tip of the bag to fit the decorating tip you want. Cut the tip of the bag with the frosting and put the bag with frosting into the bag with the decorating tip.
- Take a cupcake and with a constant light pressure on the end opposite of the decorating tip, go around the cupcake in a circular motion until you get the look you are happy with.
- The buttercream is stable so you can keep the cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter for a couple of days. You can also refrigerate for longer freshness, but note that the frosting will become a bit more stiff.