Ok. April 1st. April Fools Day. (Ok. Not a “real” day, but you get my point.) So how could I resist a cupcake with “Surprise” in the name?! Obviously…I couldn’t! Vanilla Raspberry “Surprise” Cupcakes (recipe below from Snacking in the Kitchen).
The cupcakes are dense and moist. A little like a corn muffin. They have a sweet vanilla flavor with the tart raspberry at the bottom.
Note: They are a little hard to eat because all of the preserves sink to the bottom. The original baker acknowledged this issue too. I think for the future the cupcakes should be baked and the preserves added as a filling post-baking to avoid sinking.
The frosting is creamy and smooth. It looks like it’s on the soft side, but it pipes nicely. It has a nice, sweet buttercream flavor with a little tartness from the lemon zest and the raspberry. This would be a good frosting for any vanilla or lemon-based cupcake.
Note: I’d advise a bigger piping tip – a little of my lemon zest got stuck in the small tip I started with.
Together this is a beautiful spring cupcake. Sweet and a little tart. I would also add a little lemon juice or lemon zest to the cupcake, just to bring it all together. But it’s a nice, sweet, pretty little cupcake.
Scoring Sheet:
- Cupcake Taste: 3.5
- Frosting Taste: 4.5
- Overall Taste: 4
- Appearance: 4
- Ease of Making: 4
- TOTAL: 20
RECIPE
Vanilla Raspberry “Surprise” Cupcakes (recipe from Snacking in the Kitchen)
Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
- zest of 1 lemon
For directions visit Snacking in the Kitchen.
*Tomorrow: Chocolate Sundae Cupcakes*
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