Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes – a Virgin Bake!
I don’t bake much. In fact this is my first ever attempt at making cupcakes – the whole cupcake frenzy has just passed me happily by. BUT, I was contacted by Baking Mad and asked if I’d like to try one of their recipes for cakes or muffins. And, I had a bit of whim to make something for Tea Time Treats this month, over at Lavender and Lovage, which is themed on BERRIES. So what could be better than chocolate and raspberries, a combination of flavours which I love in desserts – and why NOT try making cupcakes.
This recipe for Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes is by Eric Lanyard from the Baking Mad site and is categorised as ‘easy’ there. So I thought it might be a good one to try. And, it was genuinely quite straightforward, although I have over 200g of raspberries left (I did wonder about the quantities!). You don’t need a mixer to make it, or any other special kitchen equipment. I don’t think it’s a budget recipe, it uses fresh cream and quite a lot of real chocolate rather than cocoa, but the results are impressive.
Some of the recipe surprised me a bit, I didn’t expect to end up with such a ‘runny’ batter. In fact I thought I would be creaming sugar and butter, then adding in flour, as my mum did for fairy cakes when I was little. But this was a lot easier to do and the mixture cooked perfectly. I’ve ended up withwonderfully moist cakes with a gooey raspberry middle. I would have been better sticking with the recommended paper cupcake cases, the silicone ones I used were tricky to remove and I suspect the cakes will dry out a bit faster than they should do.
One of them fell apart a bit when I took it out of the case, so I have taken the opportunity to cut it in half and show you how they work. The raspberries cook into the cake but are still there, so when you take a bite you get a mouthful of delicious chocolate and fresh raspberry. I’m not sure how well these will keep – I’ve frozen a few and I’ve got enough to keep me going to for the rest of the week. And, they are cakes that you would normally make for guests – so I don’t suppose they are intended to keep.
I even succeeded at making a tolerable attempt at icing these cakes – the chocolate frosting was very simple to make and a great consistency to pipe. And, little raspberries on top hide any errors!
All in, this was a good practise run at making cupcakes. Next time I might even try when I am expecting visitors!
I’m sending this to Karen at Lavender and Lovage for this month’s Tea Time Treats
This is a brilliant first time bake. Yes, silicon cases are a pain in the butt, much better to stick to paper ones. Looking forward to more Teatime Treats from you
Wow, I can’t believe this is your first attempt at making cupcakes…they look great and I bet they taste great too…chocolate and raspberries are the perfect combination! I’d definitely stick with paper cases too!
they do taste very good, I am wondering how well they will keep!
An AMAZING Tea Time Treats entry for a Virgin Baker! Cannot beat raspberries and chocolate as a combination…..THANKS for your entry, Karen
Chocolate and raspberries are so good tougher. I hope you keep baking, it’s all about the weighing!
Looks absolutely delicious! I reckon I could eat the whole plateful in 10 minutes flat.
Great recipe for summertime berries! Mmmm and chocolate too…
I’m just amazed I can bake things that are edible!!!
These look fantastic – I’m sure they won’t last long!
I thought they might dry out really quickly, but they are nice today too…
Simply put – yum
Page bookmarked!
This is one of those times I wish I could climb into the picture. They look absolutely delicious! I’m going to try this one.
Why not try making cupcakes indeed Fiona? And a very credible attempt they are too – they look absolutely delicious AND you had a go at piping, something I’ve not managed to master.
I think Rachel Kho’s trick helped a lot. She uses a tall glass to balance her piping bag so she can fill it neatly – and that’s what I did.
Can’t wait to try these cupcakes. Berries and chocolate go together so well! Love that the berries sink in…Great photos!
You’ve excelled yourself Fiona, these look lovely. No excuse not to bake now.
I am not the biggest fan of cupackes (give me a slice of a real cake any time), but these lil things look lush. My guys would demolish the whole tray in one go, i think, so no thinking invloved whether they’d keep well or not.
Those look gorgeous
these look so good wish i could bake
x
Fiona these look so soft, moist and scrumptious!! Love the chocolate icing and raspberries topping too. Pretty cupcake x
I’m ever so sorry for missing your excellent entry off the first round-up, here is a second round-up:
http://whatkatebaked.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/june-tea-time-treats-round-up-ii.html
Thank you ever so much for your entry x