Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

These turned out much better than I thought they would and surprisingly ended up being my second favorite. I’m not a huge fan of buttercream. In fact, I’m one of those people who usually scrapes most of the frosting off their cupcake or piece of cake which works out great for my frosting loving hubby.

I originally planned to make these raspberry filled vanilla cupcakes, but I messed up the filling and it ended up being too soupy. So I swirled the raspberry filling into the batter before baking. No one was the wiser.

Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
makes approximately 30 cupcakes

For raspberry filling:
(accidentally adapted from this recipe)

2 c frozen raspberries
1/3 c sugar + 1/4 c sugar
3 T cornstarch
1 t lemon juice

For the cupcakes:
(I used Amy Sedaris’ vanilla cupcake recipe)

2 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c) unsalted butter at room temp
1 3/4 c sugar– I only used 1 1/3 c sugar 
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 1/4 c milk

1. Make the filling first. The following directions are what I did- not what you’re supposed to do.*  Thaw the raspberries with 1/4 c of sugar.  Drain the raspberries, reserving the liquid.  Add enough water to the reserved liquid to make 1 1/4 c of  liquid total.  Combine this liquid with the fruit, 1/3 c of sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice.  Heat over medium, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens.  Remove from the heat and cool.
2.  To make the cupcakes, combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the vanilla.  Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk, beating until well mixed.
3.  Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of batter into the baking cups.  Spoon about 1/2 a tablespoon of raspberry filling over the batter and then top with a small tablespoon of cake batter.  Swirl with a knife if desired (I was lazy and didn’t do that.  It swirled on it’s own).  Bake at 350 for 18 – 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the buttercream:
(adapted from this recipe)

1 c shortening
1/2 c unsalted butter
8 c powdered sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla
4 – 6 oz heavy cream

1. Cream shortening and butter until combined and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and cream until well blended. Add the salt and vanilla.
2. On low speed, slowly pour in the heavy cream. Start with 4 oz and add more if needed. Increase to high speed and beat until the buttercream is light and fluffy.

*See the original recipe if you want to be able to actually fill your cupcakes.

I used a large star tip to pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes. I’m not the best at piping, so it ended up a bit jaggy on the top, but it was super fast. I frosted 100 of these babies in less than 10 minutes.