Craving an indulgent treat I decided to make a batch of my super-rich, chocolate cupcakes filled them with creamy, chocolate ganache. They’re topped with a very healthy dollop of Italian buttercream and flavored with a fresh raspberry reduction. What more could you want?
What is Italian Meringue Buttercream?
Italian buttercream is a creamy, dreamy intoxicating affair made by whipping egg whites, pouring in a hot sugar syrup and then adding in some butter. It’s much lighter than American buttercream and less sweet!
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
It’s important to use room temperature egg whites and butter. Monitor the temperature of your sugar syrup — add your pieces of butter slowly — and let your buttercream sit. You’ll need to give it a quick whip to bring it back to life. I know it’s a bit finicky BUT this buttercream adds a silky, not too sweet, touch to your cakes. It also pipes beautifully!
Common Problems: If your buttercream is “soupy,” just pop it into the fridge for a couple of minutes, then beat it. It should thicken up. I find consistency problems arise mostly from the meringue being too warm when the butter is added. Chilling it will help improve the consistency.
If you’re adding flavorings (i.e. chocolate, fruit, etc). to your Italian buttercream, I suggest doing this as the very last step.
Storage: This recipe will make a bit more buttercream than you need but it can be packed in a plastic bag and refrigerated for two weeks. Just If you’re not using your buttercream IMMEDIATELY — and it will be sitting for a few minutes — then just keep in mind that you will have to give it a short whip to “bring it back to life” as it loses its consistency quickly. If you want to make the buttercream ahead of time, it can be refrigerated for a few days. Once you’re ready to use it, allow it come to room temperature and give it a short “whip.”
A tablespoon of ganache goes a LONG way. As an alternative you could also add some of the raspberry reduction or some home made vanilla pudding! And if the filling leaks out there’s nothing wrong with a drizzle of chocolate poking out to let people know there’s a molten center waiting to be eaten!
For the Decorating
I love using a large open star 869 tip for this type of decorating. The jumbo-sized opening really lets you pump out a lot of buttercream! To get the look of this cupcake just twist the cupcake in one direction then another while you pipe.
Top with a raspberry and you’re done!
If you’ve tried these cupcakes then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
RIch chocolate cupcakes filled with an indulgent ganache and topped with Italian buttercream flavored with a raspberry reduction.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chopped finely
- 1 1/4 cup cream
For the Raspberry Reduction
- 6 oz raspberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbsp water
For the Buttercream
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup sugar divided
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 16 oz unsalted butter room temperature
Instructions
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add the eggs one at a time making sure to mix thouroughly. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla and milk.
While mixing on low speed add the wet ingredients to teh dry and mix until just combined.
Scoop the batter into cupcake papers filling 2/3 the way up.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.
For the Reduction
Place the ingredients in a small sauce pan on medium low heat.
Mash the berries with the back of a spoon or muddler and stir occasionally.
You want to reduce the amount of liquid, intensify the flavor, and thicken the liquid so aim to cook until the mixture is reduced at least by half.
Strain the reduction and set aside to cool.
For the Buttercream
Beat the egg whites, salt, and 1/3 cup of sugar until soft peaks form. At the same time in a medium saucepan add the remaining sugar and 1/3 cup water and place on medium-high heat. Stir until sugar melts and becomes clear. Maintain a medium high heat until temperature reads 235-240F.
Drizzle the sugar into the mixer (remembering the egg whites should be at the soft peak stage). Run mixer until meringue is body temperature. 10-15 minutes.
Add room temperature butter into running mixer one tablespoon at a time. Beat until butter is combined and mixture has reached a silky consistency
Mix in the cooled berry reduction and pipe onto cupcakes using an 869 tip. Top with a whole raspberry.
Recipe Video
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Christina says
March 26, 2017 at 4:47 amHi John,
I was looking at your Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake recipe and it states: 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour. Also, the recipe says it will make 15 cupcakes. Is that the correct amount of flour?
Thank you,
Christina
John says
April 13, 2017 at 6:21 pmHi Christina — Yes, that is the correct amount. Thanks, John.
Barbara says
April 15, 2017 at 5:39 pmI made this recipe with my 10-year old son who loves baking and cake design! Only we made a big cake version instead of cupcakes. He made apool of ganache in the middle of the cake! It was delicious! This evening we’re baking it again! The first time it took us around 3 hours to ge the whoke thing done. I’m hoping it’ll go a bit quicker this time. Thanks for a perfect recipe for such a delicious cake!
All the best,
Barbara
John says
April 18, 2017 at 5:05 pmHi Barbara — I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, John.
Anat Doitch says
June 22, 2017 at 2:34 amI love your recipe. I just made this one and the buttercream came out too soft I don’t think it will form on top of the cupcake without running off… Not sure why and if it can be fixed? Thank you Anat
John says
June 22, 2017 at 4:54 pmHi Anat — You have to let the mixer run until the meringue is room temperature. That’s around 15 minutes. If you add the butter in too soon — and it’s soupy — pop the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes then give it another whip and it should be fine. Hope this helps! Thanks, John.
Anat Doitch says
June 22, 2017 at 6:41 pmThank you John! I’m trying it again tonight. Hope for better results. Btw in flavor it was still amazing
Anat Doitch says
June 22, 2017 at 11:50 pmCan the buttercream be made a day in advance?
Cristina says
July 17, 2017 at 11:09 pmHi, what is your favorite cocoa brand? I’vr ttied usig Hershey’s but find the taste a bit bitter.
John says
July 18, 2017 at 5:24 pmHi Cristina — I try to find a nice, organic variety. I try to switch it up to see if there are any new flavors I prefer. I hope this helps! Best, John.
Sherry says
July 18, 2017 at 11:09 pmHi John, What is the tool used to remove the cupcake plug? Thx, Sherry
John says
July 19, 2017 at 5:49 pmHi Sherry — I use a ‘cup cake corer’ but you could also use a small, round cookie cutter. Let me know what works for you! Best, John.
Allison L Binder says
August 3, 2017 at 11:17 amWhat is the baking time and temp for the cupcakes?
John says
August 3, 2017 at 5:53 pmHi Allison — The bake time is 25 minutes. Hope this helps. Best, John.
Allison L Binder says
August 3, 2017 at 6:48 pmThanks! What about oven temperature?
Allison L Binder says
August 4, 2017 at 1:22 amJust made these tonight. Unfortunately the cake was overly sweet for my taste. Also the ganache ingredient portion seemed to be off. I ended up with a runny consistency, and after comparing this recipe to some other ganache recipes online it seemed as though the cream amount was too much. I ended up doubling the chocolate for the ganache. I did a different frosting for these so I’m not able to speak to that.
Liv says
August 8, 2017 at 7:18 pmLove!!
Elisa says
February 16, 2018 at 2:13 pmI would like to make these for my book club today, but I read and printed out the recipe and I do not see the oven temp or bake time in the recipe. I see that you responded on the time – 25 mins – but not the temperature. Could you please let me know and also adjust the recipe to reflect this? Really appreciate it! Happy Friday!
Elisa says
February 16, 2018 at 3:06 pmAlso, 4 sticks of butter in the buttercream??? Is this correct?
Thanks in advance for responding.
Jennifer Amen-Hanson says
August 13, 2018 at 5:30 amHi John! I just found your page and I really like it, your food looks amazing- all of it! Quick question for you, is there a reason why you used an Italian buttercream instead of a Swiss? Would these cupcakes taste as good with a Swiss Merengue buttercream? Just asking because I whipped up my first batch of Swiss merengue buttercream last night for a cake contest and the cake I am making has very similar flavor profile as the cupcake-but with a different berry…any suggestions or tips you have, Id love to hear your thoughts! Thank you 🙂
John K. says
August 13, 2018 at 9:05 amJennifer,
You can absolutely use Swiss buttercream on these cupcakes! I find that Swiss and Italian meringue buttercream taste very similar! I hope you enjoy these cupcakes!
John
Jen says
August 14, 2018 at 6:31 pmThank you! I did enjoy these very much!! I took the extra cupcakes into my office and everybody raved :))
John K. says
August 15, 2018 at 9:17 amJen,
You’re very welcome!
John
Shyeta Skywalker says
March 8, 2019 at 7:46 pmJust made these and they are absolutely delicious! I love the texture. I’ve just made the cakes so far, buttercream will happen tomorrow but I just wanted to share how wonderful they are and say thank you John!
jkanell says
March 16, 2019 at 10:03 pmSo happy you liked them!