I am not much of a baker myself but I do like to try to make things every now and then beyond the pies that I make. That being said, there are people I know that are much better at baking and do things a lot more extravagant than I can do. It has to be a recipe that really interests me for me to want to venture over to the baking side and make things, but it does happen now and then. That is what happened when I saw this recipe from Williams-Sonoma for white chocolate raspberry cupcakes with a raspberry butter cream. They just looked too good not to try to when I looked over the recipe it looked like something that I could actually make a pretty good go of without trouble. I actually combined this recipe with a recipe I saw for raspberry buttercream because I wanted to have a more predominant color to the frosting.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

For the cupcakes:

2 cups (10 oz./315 g) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (4 oz./125 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (8 oz./250 g) granulated sugar

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 cup (4 fl. oz./125 ml) milk, at room temperature

2 oz. (60 g) white chocolate, chopped and melted

1 container (6 oz./185 g) fresh raspberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

½ cup butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

Chunk of white chocolate, for shaving (optional)

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.

To make the cupcakes, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg whites and beat until they are blended, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with the milk in 2 additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat the mixture just until it is combined. Stir in the white chocolate just until it is blended, then gently fold in the raspberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing the batter evenly among the cups.

Bake the cupcakes until they are puffed and light golden and the center springs back slightly when touched, about 25 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.

To make the raspberry buttercream, add  the raspberries to a food processor. Pulse the raspberries  until they become a thick sauce. Push the raspberry puree through a sieve to extract the juice and get rid of the seeds. Set the raspberry sauce aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high for about 2-3 minutes to get a creamy fluffy texture. Add in the powdered sugar and raspberry sauce on low-speed until they are combined. If the frosting is too runny add more powdered sugar. If it is too thick add some milk.

Spoon the buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Shave curls from the chunk of white chocolate and sprinkle over the cupcakes if desired or top with a fresh raspberry, if desired.

The cupcakes can be stored on the counter at room temperature for a day or two and in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

I admit it was a bit of work to get the raspberry sauce through a sieve to get all of the seeds out but the hard work is well worth it to give you a smooth raspberry sauce for the frosting. These cupcakes are very tasty, with the raspberry and white chocolate shining through. If you prefer to have cupcakes without a whole raspberry inside, you could certainly take the whole raspberries and make a sauce from them and then pipe it into the center of the cupcakes so you get the raspberry flavor without the whole raspberry in there, but I liked it with the raspberry inside. I think they came out well and tasted better being in the refrigerator where the buttercream firmed up and had a great texture. This makes a great summer dessert as an alternative to making a cake or pie.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!