Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
By: The Culinary Ch...
Published: Friday, March 11, 2011 - 8:17pm

Ingredients




Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake:
1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups Granulated Sugar
4 ounces Semi Sweet or Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup Strong Brewed Hot Coffee
3/4 cup Vegetable Oil
3 Large Eggs
2 teaspoons Raspberry Extract
Chocolate Ganache:
12 ounces Quality Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 tablespoon Framboise Liqueur
Raspberry Filling:
2 cups Frozen Raspberries
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 tablespoon Framboise Liqueur
1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Zest

Preparation

1 Prepare Cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper cup liners in cupcake pans. Place finely chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot coffee over it. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plastic and stir until smooth. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. In a mixing stand, beat eggs for a few minutes until they become a pale yellow. Beat in oil, buttermilk, and raspberry extract .  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly add the chocolate. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Pour batter into the lined cups–about 3/4 way. Bake for 2 Prepare Raspberry Filling: Place all raspberry sauce ingredients in a medium sized, heavy saucepan. Simmer on medium-low until berries have broken down and the sauce has thickened. Approximately 10-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. *If you don’t want seeds in your filling, puree the raspberries in a blender and strain before cooking. 3 Prepare Chocolate Ganache: Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil.  Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plastic and add framboise—stir until smooth and glossy. Allow ganache to cool completely before frosting. *If you wish a fluffier “whipped” frosting, allow ganache to cool completely before transferring to a stand mixer. On medium-high speed, whip until you reach the desired consistency. 4 Assemble Cupcakes: Once all items have been prepared, fill a piping bag with a small round tip with the raspberry filling. Fill another piping bag with the ganache. Taking one cupcake, place the tip of the raspberry filled bag into the cake and squeeze in a few teaspoons of the filling. Be careful not to “inject” too much or your cupcakes will implode :) Finally with the piping bag filled with ganache, pipe/decorate swirls on top of the cupcake. Garnish with fresh raspberries.