Raspberry Filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

My decorating skills leave little to be desired, but damn it if these weren’t awesome. I had been mulling over cake recipes all day. Is that bad? I mean, I was at work all day. I was prepping financial statements. I was also rifling through cake recipes. Andrew was coming home that night. It’s my new excuse to try new things. It’s not as if I need an excuse, but it just we can pretend.

I finally busted out that new mixer that I received for Christmas. It’s only February. Get off me! It’s such a beautiful color. Imperial Gray. I love it so much that my car is gray, and my bedroom is gray. Obsessed much? It worked just like any other Kitchenaid I’ve used before, so now I consider myself one of the lucky souls who has one. Sure, my kitchen doesn’t have room for it, but it sits pretty on top of the wine fridge.

So this recipe for Grown-Up Birthday Cake was my inspiration for these cupcakes. I pretty much modified the hell out of them. I said goodbye to the full on, double layer cake for starters. I halved the recipe. I replaced half of the olive oil with applesauce to save the unnecessary calories so I can eat more cake [next time, I’ll totally use full applesauce]. I baked the jam in the cupcakes, and I used almond milk in place of regular milk in the buttercream frosting. These were an absolute godsend minus the hiccup with the jam. I put way too much in them, so when it sunk to the bottom, it spread and made the bottom not so cakey anymore. It’s not bad. It’s just…different. It won’t stop me from doing it again. Live and learn.

Makes 16 cupcakes

Ingredients – Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Jam of your choosing [I used a four fruit blend]

Ingredients – Frosting

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
• 1/8 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350º and line cupcake tins with paper liners.
• Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
• Mix sugar and eggs on med-high for a minute. Slowly mix in vanilla, wine, applesauce and oil.
• Fold in dry ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Pour batter into tins, filling each well 2/3 to 3/4 full.
• Place a teaspoon of jam on top. It will sink to the bottom while it cooks [I used almost 2 teaspoons].
• Bake for 20 minutes. Make sure you’re only using one pan at a time. Test the cupcake with a toothpick. Clean toothpick = golden.
• Let them cool for a few minutes until you can successfully handle them, and then cool on a wire rack [or your table because I’m not cool enough to have a wire rack yet].
• While they’re cooling, mix your frosting.
• Cream the butter with the powdered sugar until it’s smooth. Don’t be like me and jump the gun on your butter and mix it too soon. It wasn’t soft enough yet. I am impatient.
• Mix in the cocoa.
• Add in the vanilla.
• Frost your little heart out.