Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

My friend Alex wants chocolate raspberry cake for her wedding – not a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, but a literal chocolate with raspberry flavoring in the batter.  Several bakers have told her this isn’t possible, so I decided to prove them otherwise.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

10 tablespoons butter, slightly softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

4 eggs

¼ teaspoon almond extract

2-3 teaspoons raspberry extract (depending on your preference)

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup milk minus about 2 teaspoons (depending on how much raspberry extract you use)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in eggs, almond extract, and raspberry extract.

Add flour mixture alternatively with milk, beating until just combined.

Using a cookie scoop for even portions, scoop batter into muffin tins.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly pressed.

Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

3 to 3 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon salt

1 to 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment.

Add 3 cups powdered sugar.  With your mixer on low, incorporate the powdered sugar into the butter.  (Hint: I find that placing a kitchen towel over the mixer during this stage prevents a powdered sugar blizzard.)

Increase speed and add 1 tablespoon vanilla, salt, and milk.

Beat for 3 minutes, then taste.  If you’d like a stronger vanilla flavor, add the second tablespoon of vanilla, along with the additional ¼ cup of powdered sugar.  Beat until combined.

For thinner buttercream, add additional milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

 

Homemade Vanilla Extract

On a weekend getaway to Williamsburg, Virginia, I spotted vanilla beans at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery.  On the packaging was a recipe for homemade vanilla extract, and I’ve adapted it as follows; I usually have one bottle in use and another steeping in my cupboard.

Ingredients

1 vanilla bean

Good-quality vodka

Preparation

Place the vanilla bean in a bottle with a good seal.

Pour in enough vodka to cover the bean and store in a cool, dark place for 3 to 4 months.

 

Russian Tea Cakes

These classic powdered sugar-covered treats are also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, but my husband calls them Nut Bombs.  One Christmas during my childhood, my mom Genny (who fully admits that she’s no Betty Crocker) attempted to bake a batch.  I’m not sure what went wrong with her recipe, but they turned out like rocks and she called them Christmas Bombs.  I must have told Mike this story way back when we were just dating, but it stuck with him.  This past Christmas, a colleague of Mike’s asked if I could bake these for her, and when he told me what she wanted, he said, “you know, those nut bombs.”

Today’s batch is for my sister-in-law Kristin.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts

2 ¼ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

powdered sugar for rolling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Beat butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and vanilla together until creamy.

Stir in nuts, flour, and salt until dough comes together; you may need to reach in with your hands and knead the dough a bit.

Shape into balls using a small cookie scoop.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are light golden brown.

Let cool about 4 or 5 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar and place on a wire rack to cool.

When completely cool, roll in powdered sugar again.

Italian Polenta Cookies

This recipe came from the Martha Stewart Cookies book.  The cookies are meant to be piped into an S-shape before baking, but either Martha’s recipe needs a bit more liquid or she gets the world’s strongest man to do her piping, because the dough was far too thick to pipe.  Alternatively, I rolled the dough into balls and shaped it into logs, then twisted the logs like bread sticks.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 cu polenta
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line several baking sheets with parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, polenta, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, and lemon zest and beat on medium for about two minutes, until fluffy.

Add egg and yolk, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Add vanilla and beat.

Add flour mixture in thirds, beating after each addition to combine.

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, then form a log and twist it like a breadstick.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until edges are golden.

Cool on baking sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from sheets and cool on wire racks completely.