Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

Yum Yum Yum!  That's how will I sum up the taste of these cupcakes!  I found some raspberry extract while shopping, which, I'll be honest, I never even knew existed, and wanted to use it in a recipe immediately.  I bought some fresh raspberries and looked up a vanilla cupcake recipe on Martha Stewart and went to work.

Scratch Raspberry Vanilla Cupcakes

Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons raspberry extract

1 1/4 cups milk

1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners; set aside.  In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time,  mixing until incorporated.  Scrape down sides of bowl and mix in vanilla.

Add flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  Add whole raspberries to batter and use mixer to incorporate.  The berries will break up into pieces but will not alter the color of the batter.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 2/3 full.  

Bake until cake springs back, approximately 18-20 minutes.  After removing pan from over place on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Oh, did my house smell SOOO good while these were baking!  I was anxious to get the cupcakes frosted so I could try one.  I knew I wanted to use buttercream icing, but wasn't sure if I wanted to make it raspberry flavored.  I figured why not, the worst that could happen was an overdose of raspberry, and I was okay with that!

Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream Icing

2 sticks of butter (I did use salted)

4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon raspberry extract

1/2 cup of fresh raspberries

3-5 tablespoons half and half

Using a mixer, beat butter until it is fluffy.  Add 3 cups of sugar - one cup at a time - mixing until it's completely incorporated.  Add vanilla, raspberry extract, fresh raspberries (rinsed and dried THOROUGHLY) and half and half along with the last cup of sugar and mix together, adding more half and half until the icing is the desired consistency.

This icing is absolute heaven!  I mean, really.  I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The fresh berries turned the buttercream into the lovliest shade of pink.  They elevated the taste to perfection.  I could not wait to eat one, so I used a piping bag to frost each cupcake.

Delicious.  I might like these better than the Bellini cupcakes.  It's hard for me to make that call!  The cupcake itself was a bit too dense for me, so I think I'm going to try a new vanilla cupcake recipe, but the flecks of fruit throughout were SO good!

If you love or even just like raspberries, I urge you give these a try!

I have shared this recipe on:

Something Swanky's Sweet Treats Thursday