Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

A chocolate raspberry cupcake halved exposing a thick drip of its raspberry curd filled center.

5 from 4 votes

These Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes are soft, fluffy, rich and sweet all rolled into one! They start with a moist gluten free chocolate cupcake, filled with a tart yet sweet eggless raspberry curd, topped with a luscious raspberry frosting and drizzled with chocolate! This recipe makes 12 delicious cupcakes and the cupcake batter requires zero mixer! If that wasn't enough, these beauties are gluten free, eggless, nut free and can be made vegan with a few tweaks!

Prep Time30

Cook Time24

Cool Time15

Total Time1 9

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 366kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Raspberry Curd

½ cup granulated sugar
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch
1 pinch kosher salt
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons orange juice , no pulp
2 cups frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick

For the Chocolate Cupcakes

½ cup milk
½ tablespoon white vinegar
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons multipurpose gluten free flour (I use Cup4Cup gluten free multipurpose flour which contains xanthan gum)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use 3 tablespoons dutch or natural unsweetened and 3 tablespoons dark)
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
½ cup warm water (microwaved for about 30 seconds)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Raspberry Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons raspberry curd
1 teaspoon water , room temperature

For the Chocolate Drizzle

2 tablespoons chocolate chips , melted

Topping (If desired)

12 fresh raspberries

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Raspberry Curd

In a medium saucepan whisk together the ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch (26 grams) and the 1 pinch kosher salt.
Add in the 1 cup milk and 3 tablespoons orange juice. Whisk until everything is combined. It may take a minute for the cornstarch to be blended in.
Add in the 2 cups frozen raspberries and cook everything over medium heat, stirring frequently and mashing the raspberries with the whisk. Cook until the mixture begins to bubble and becomes thick like pudding. About 4-6 minutes. Cook for an additional minute after it begins to boil.
Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the 2 tablespoons butter.
Place a mesh colander over a heat proof bowl and pour the curd through the colander to strain it, pushing down on the raspberry chunks. The curd will now be silky smooth with a pudding texture.
Set aside to cool and refrigerate while you make the cupcakes.

Make the Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 12 cup regular size cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup, measure out ½ cup of milk. Add in ½ tablespoon of the white vinegar and stir.
Let sit 5-10 min and stir again, It will appear chunky; that's normal. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons multipurpose gluten free flour, ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch (26 grams) and 3 tablespoons water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add in the cornstarch water mixture, the homemade buttermilk, the ½ cup warm water, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
Whisk until smooth and combined. If the batter appears very thin and liquidy, let it sit 10 minutes; it will start to thicken.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake tins ¾ way to the top. Smooth the tops with a small knife. You should have 12 regular size cupcake tins filled.
Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back at you when carefully touched or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool almost completely in the pan (about 15 minutes) before trying to remove them and placing them on a cooling rack.

Make the Raspberry Frosting

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the ½ cup unsalted butter until smooth and creamy. About 2 minutes.
With the mixer on very low speed, slowly add in the 4 cups confectioners' sugar and 5 tablespoons raspberry curd. Beat until combined.
While the mixer is on, slowly add in the 1 teaspoon water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may not need to use all the water. You want the frosting to be soft enough to pipe yet still be able to hold its shape.

Assemble the Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, we are going to make the holes for the curd filling.
If you have piping bags with tips, you can use that to make the holes.
If not, using a clean thumb, simply push down in the center of the cupcakes but not all the way to the bottom.
Fill the hole with the raspberry curd, all the way to the top.
Easiest way to do this is to fill a piping bag with a tip with curd and pipe it in. If you don’t have a piping bag, fill a zip top bag with curd and snip a small piece of the corner off.
After they’re filled with curd, pop the cupcakes uncovered in the fridge for at least 15 min.
This is to make the curd a bit more solid. You don’t want it oozing everywhere as you try to frost.
Take the cupcakes out of the fridge. If you have piping bags, pipe the raspberry frosting on top of each cupcake.
If you don’t have piping bags, put a thin layer of frosting on top of each cupcake.
If you frosted the cupcakes by hand, pop the cupcakes in the fridge for 15 minutes to let that thin layer harden.

Make the Chocolate Drizzle

Place the 2 tablespoons chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 15 second increments, stirring after each time, until melted and smooth.
Drizzle the melted chocolate on top of the raspberry frosting. Drizzle with some extra raspberry curd and top with fresh raspberries if desired!

Notes

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk and vegan chocolate chips.

Gluten Free Flour- If you also have nut allergies, make sure to use a brand that’s made in a nut free facility. I really love to use Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour because it’s free of the top 9 allergens. It also contains xanthan gum which really helps give baked goods their bounce and prevents them from falling apart. Since all multipurpose gf flours are not the same, if you use a different gluten free flour, please understand the results will most likely be different.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoon packed AP flour (126 grams plus 2 tablespoons) and packed cocoa powder.

Storing: Store extra cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. When ready to eat, let the cupcake sit on the counter until room temperature and soft.

Freezing: Once the lemon drizzle on the cupcakes has hardened a little (you may need to pop them in the fridge), individually wrap each cupcake in aluminum foil.Pop them in a zip top bag and freeze the cupcakes for up to 30 days.

To defrost, put the cupcakes in the fridge the night before or leave them out on the counter for 2 hours prior to eating or until the cupcakes are room temperature and soft.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition