Raspberry Filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

I have been baking a lot lately.  A lot, you guys.  I made these and another batch of cupcakes for work one week, and people started hiring me to bake stuff.  Like, I made 600 mini cupcakes last week. You read that right – 600 (thanks, Kristy and Tim for your help!).  And a couple of weeks before that, I made three other batches of mini cupcakes and a mountain of cookies, which my mom helped me with (and then she left her Kitchen Aid mixer for me to borrow! Thanks, Mom!).  So, if you have noticed I haven’t been posting a lot lately, it’s because I’ve been baking…and icing…and grocery shopping for the baking…and cleaning up after baking.  🙂  And if you’re wondering if I’d make cupcakes for your kid’s birthday party/sister’s bridal shower/cousin’s baby shower/uncle’s retirement party, the answer is yes!…as long as you live in my general vicinity.  Just get a hold of me and let me know what your cupcake needs are.

So, these cupcakes are a big hit with people who have tried them.  They love the raspberry filling and rave about the icing.  I have to say, I wouldn’t recommend trying to fill mini cupcakes, because it’s a major p.i.t.a.  I won’t be filling minis anymore; I’ll be sticking to regular size if there’s filling involved.  Swearsies.

I am having a problem with these cupcakes though.  The cake itself is so moist that the cupcake papers pull away from the cupcakes.  I know, it’s a terrible problem to have – too moist of cake.  But it doesn’t look professional, so I’m working on this little problem.  I’ll give you the recipe I have been using, which came from Buddy Valastro, but you have been warned.

You know I usually try to cook pretty healthy, and when I’m baking for us I try to use healthy recipes also.  But when I bake for other people, well all bets are off.  Despite the fact that these cupcakes contain fruit, they are not exactly low fat.  Though, come to think of it, I did use 1/3 less fat cream cheese in the icing.  Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night…

Raspberry Filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 egg whites from large eggs

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to break up any lumps.  In a measuring cup, combine milk and vanilla.  Beat shortening and sugar together until light.  Add the 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then 1/2 of the wet ingredients, followed by 1/3 more of the dry, the rest of the wet, and end with the remaining 1/3 of the dry.  Mix at low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl.  Add the egg whites and mix at high speed until fluffy and smooth, for approximately 2 minutes.

Fill the liners 1/2 to 2/3 full of batter. Do not overfill. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans then remove from the pans, and place on wire racks to cool completely.  (For minis bake 12-13 minutes.)

Raspberry Filling

Adapted from Food.com

• 1 1/2-2 cups frozen raspberries
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, combined all of the ingredients and slowly bring to a boil over medium-high heat (keep stirring until thickened for best results).  Let cool completely before filling cupcakes.

To fill the cupcakes, with a pearing knife, core the center out of the cupcake (or use a cupcake corer that you can get at a craft store).  Fill the cavity with the filling so it is almost flush with the cake, and then replace the top.  The “plug” won’t be even with the rest of the cupcake, but that’s ok because it’s going to get covered with icing.

Frosting 

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I use 1/3 less fat)
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 16 oz (1 lb) powdered sugar
• ¾ tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 1-2 T of milk, if desired

Beat cream cheese and butter on medium until smooth and creamy.  Reduce speed to low, add powdered sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla and salt.  If icing is too thick, you can add milk a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Whether I do this or not just depends on how soft the butter and cream cheese are, what the weather is like that day, etc.  Just be careful.  It takes a lot of powdered sugar to compensate for too much milk.

For best results, pipe icing on with a piping bag rather than spreading with a knife.

I like to use pink sprinkles on these so people know there’s something pink inside. 🙂