After a much needed weekend away with the girls (and the 4 days needed to recover) it's time to get back to baking. I've taken on the task of making cupcakes for my step-dad's upcoming surprise birthday party to be held at a local steakhouse. It's gonna be 72 cupcakes and a 6 inch cutting cake. I'm also building a cupcake tower which I've never done. It became immediately apparent that I'm a much better baker than I am a builder. After searching through pictures on Flickr to decide on the style of the stand, trying to map it out on graph paper, and then making 4 trips to Jo Ann's to purchase supplies I still couldn't figure out how big each level had to be. So with only a week left until the big event my hubby finally came to my rescue; in one hour late Friday night he did what I hadn't been able to accomplish in 3 weeks (and I think 15 of those minutes were spent laughing at me and explaining my layout options...yeah he even gave me options...I can't come up with one complete design and he has options???!!!)


With the cupcake tower ready to be wrapped and ribboned (I will post pics & instructions on how I did it when it's finished so that perhaps I can save another math challenged soul from the frustrations I experienced) I moved on to finally decide what combo. of cupcakes to place on the tower. I know, I know...nothing like waiting until the last minute. I've been thinking about this project non-stop but somehow have been unable to make any real decisions. I'm a procrastinator by nature and seem to operate a little more efficiently under the wire?? Any who, I've known I want to do black and white cupcakes but what flavor????? Well I've settled on a white chocolate and raspberry cupcake for the white and a chocolate hazelnut cupcake for the black. Each cupcake will also be topped with a photo pic (depicting one of 5 images of the birthday boy from throughout his life). The cake on top will probably be a chocolate raspberry combining flavors from both versions of cupcake (this way I can cover all my bases and my brain can settle down over whether I've made the best choice).


Yesterday, rather than do laundry and iron my man's work shirts I choose to make some sample cupcakes so that I could place them on the unfinished cupcake stand to be sure it would look like I pictured (yep, I still can't fully visualize it, I need to physically see it). I decided to try out the white chocolate raspberry version. I made a white chocolate and raspberry cupcake and then iced it with a white chocolate butter cream. I first made a white chocolate ganache but I must have done something wrong as when I was adding the melted chocolate to the slightly beaten whipped cream it curdled...the more I beat the more it curdled and it never would have been thick enough to pipe onto cupcakes like a whipped chocolate ganache so I dumped that and started over. I started with a basic butter cream recipe and then added the melted white chocolate. The end result was visually what I was looking for. Taste wise....it's very sweet and IMO needed more raspberry flavor to balance out the white chocolate, I'm partial to chocolate chocolate so I always find myself saying "it's good but not as good as devil's food". But they were pretty, displayed nicely and did taste good so I'm sticking with them short of a few minor changes I will make. So here's the recipes I used...my changes are listed in pink



White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes
by Shelly Kaldunski in Cupcakes


yields 12 cupcakes



1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbls. unsalted butter - room temp
1 large egg - room temp
1/2 cup whole milk ( I used 2%)
3 oz. white chocolate chopped

1 cup raspberries (I used raspberry jam pushed through a strainer to remove seeds- read below)

White Chocolate Butter cream adapted from Betty Crocker



1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 oz. white baking chips, melted and cooled
2-3 tbls. milk




Beat butter and sugar until combined. Add milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add melted chocolate and mix to incorporate.



Sift flour, baking powder and salt into bowl and set aside. On medium-high speed of electric mixer beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the white chocolate and beat on low speed until combined. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Remove from pan. (cooled cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days; bring to room temp before finishing). Place Raspberry's in a bowl and use a fork to crush them lightly. Spoon the crushed berry's on top of the cooled cupcakes, dividing them evenly. Frost the cupcakes with butter cream, garnish with white chocolate curls. Serve right away.


Here's what I did differently...


Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into prepared muffin cups, add a rounded teaspoon of raspberry jam to each cup and then top with remaining batter. Bake as directed, cool completely and then ice with white chocolate butter cream.


What I'd do differently next time...


Rather than use a prepared jam that contains sugar I'd like to make my own raspberry puree. I felt like the white chocolate and the sweetened jam was just too sweet for my tastes. I think I'll melt the chocolate before adding it to the cupcake batter to be sure it's spread equally through out rather than one cupcake have a few more pieces than the next. And, I also think I'll use a little more chocolate and cut back on the sugar in the icing...add a little more whipped cream to lighten it.