Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Chocolate and Raspberry are always a good combination!  These are a chocolate cupcake filled with raspberry jam and topped with raspberry buttercream icing, drizzled with chocolate-raspberry ganache, and topped with a fresh raspberry.  If you are looking for something extra-special to make for mom for Mother's Day, you could try this recipe.  If you don't want to make the cupcakes from scratch you can always use a chocolate cake mix and then add the raspberry filling and frosting.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes:

CUPCAKES:
Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour cupcake pans or use paper liners.
2.  Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. 
3.  Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Beat with a mixer for about two minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
4.  Add the boiling water, and mix just until blended.  The batter should be watery, so don't freak out!
5.  Evenly pour the batter into the liners, about 1/2-2/3 full.  Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool and frost.

FILLING:
Ingredients:
1 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions:
When cupcakes have cooled, microwave jam for about 20-30 seconds to make it easier to pipe, but be careful not to make it too watery or it will just ooze all over.  Dump jam into an icing bag with a pastry-filling tip (or you can use just a large icing tip).  Stick the tip into the center of the cupcake and squeeze about 2 tsp of jam into each cupcake.

RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM ICING:
Ingredients:
1 cup softened BUTTER, no substitutes
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 tsp raspberry extract (optional)
6 cups powdered sugar
pink food coloring, if desired

Directions:
Beat butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until very creamy and fluffy.  Add jam and raspberry extract and mix well.  Gradually add powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it is all combined and a good consistency.  If you want you can add some food coloring to make your icing more pink. ( I did)  Frost cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY GANACHE:
Ingredients:
5 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup raspberry jam

1/4 tsp raspberry extract (optional)
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Place jam, chocolate, and extract in a small bowl.  Heat cream to boiling in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Pour cream in bowl and whisk until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Cool about 15 minutes or until it is thickened enough to spoon over cupcakes.  Top cupcakes with fresh raspberries, if desired.

For an extra treat, try cooling ganache until it is thick enough to pipe into the raspberries to make little raspberry truffles to top your cupcakes.  YUM!