Raspberries and Orange Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

These Raspberries and Orange Cupcakes are the perfect combination of two fruits very characteristic of summer and spring. The vanilla base is very light and fresh with a touch of orange and the heart of raspberry jam is a total surprise. And as if that weren’t enough, the buttercream makes them irresistibly smooth.

Hola, peeps! I’m back!

I’m not sure if you noticed, but last week I didn’t post a recipe. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I organized my first giveaway. No other than alfajores!!

I can’t say it’s “difficult”, but it requires some work to choose the price, set the rules, reply to all the comments and, on top of everything, baking the gift haha. If you don’t follow me, I suggest you do, as I’m planning on doing more giveaways soon. Very soon 🙂

After the decadent Cakey Dulce de Leche and Cashew Brownies, this week I felt we needed something a bit more fresh with some fruit.

I’ll be brief, so you can focus on these good-looking raspberry and orange cupcakes, which are extremely easy to make. You can even make them into muffins, by ignoring the vanilla buttercream. Of course, you would be missing a fundamental part, but they’ll still be equally delicious.

Why you would love these Raspberries and Orange Cupcakes

• Even though they are made of three steps (cupcake, raspberry jam and buttercream), they are super easy and quick to make. You can even replace the homemade jam with your favorite store-bought one.
• They are spongy, fluffy and sweet.
• The orange subtle flavor breaks the sweetness of the raspberry jam and the buttercream.
• The buttercream is the perfect final touch, which gives the cupcakes an extraordinary smooth texture.

How to make these Raspberry and orange cupcakes

If you’ve already made my blueberry muffins, these Raspberries and Orange Cupcakes are very similar. I only adjusted the recipe a bit. The base if super fluffy, spongy and moist, thanks to the cooking cream.

Basically, as with all my recipes, I wanted to bake some yummy and colorful for the weekend. At the supermarket, I saw these gorgeous raspberries on sale. So I bought them and started thinking how to turn them into muffins or cupcakes with a rustic yet elegant touch.

That’s when I came up with the concept of the quick sort of raspberry jam. It not only gives them an intense and fun color, but it also complements perfectly with the orange acidity. They are not fruits I would typically mix, but believe me when I say it’ll surprise you!

How to prepare the raspberry jam

We can agree that this not technically jam. We can also call it “sauce” or whatever you prefer. 🙂

To prepare this raspberry jam, we’ll need a small saucepan, ideally a non-stick one, where we’ll place the raspberries (either fresh or frozen), the fresh orange juice and the sugar.

At medium heat, and using a wooden spoon, let’s stir and break all the raspberries very slowly. You’ll notice they start to release some liquid when they start to heat up and get mixed with the sugar.

Once we notice it has a thicker consistency, it’s done.

Before using, we have to make sure to let it cool completely. So we can easily make it the previous day and keep it in the fridge.

The jam is done. Now to the buttercream.

What is buttercream

Buttercream is widely used in American pastries, cakes and sweets. I would dare to say, world wide. In my case, the same as with banana bread, I tried it for the first time when I lived in Ohio. Up to that moment, I hadn’t had the pleasure of tasting this smooth and delicious cream.

There are many types of buttercream (Swiss, French, American, German, Italian), but they all have in common the few required ingredients. Basically, we need to whisk very well butter (at room temperature) and icing, or powdered, sugar. Plus whatever flavor we prefer. For instance, chocolate, peanut butter, dulce de leche or any fruit, such as this strawberry buttercream.

Moreover, we can use it in a wide range of sweet goodies, like cake filling or cupcakes.

This time, I chose the classic American Vanilla Buttercream and I used Chelsea Sweets‘s recipe. Very easy and quick to make. I just reduced the quantities so I didn’t have leftovers.

We can also prepare it a day or two in advance. We just have to pop it into the fridge, in an air-tight container so it doesn’t absorb any weird smells, and take it out 30 minutes before we decide to frost the cupcakes.

So, once we have the raspberry jam and the buttercream, it’s a matter of baking the cupcakes and letting them cool completely before frosting them.

As decoration, we can use fresh raspberries or orange zest.

I really hope you enjoy them with some yummy tea or coffee, or even as breakfast. I won’t tell anyone (or judge). 😀

Don’t forget to leave a comment down below if you try this recipe (and why not, an Uber-style rating? ★★★★★). It not only helps me but also other people that want to try it. You can also tag me on Instagram or Pinterest so I get to check your photos or send them to me privately if you are shy.

Other similar recipes:

• Blueberry Muffins
• Coconut Tres Leches Cupcakes
• Whole Mandarin Muffins with Chocolate Ganache

Raspberries and Orange Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Paula Delapenna

These Raspberries and Orange Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream are the perfect combination of spring and summer. The spongy vanilla base offers some freshness thanks to the orange, which is balanced by the sweetness of the raspberry jam.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Cupcakes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

  

Base:

• 150 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 170 g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 60 ml cooking cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• Zest of a large orange
• 175 g self-rising flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt

Raspberry Jam:

• 300 g raspberries fresh or frozen
• 50 g granulated sugar
• Juice of a large orange

Buttercream:

• 200 g unsalted room temperature
• 450 g icing or powdered sugar, sifted
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp cooking cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence

Instructions

 

Raspberry Jam:

• In a small saucepan, add the raspberries, the orange juice and the sugar. At mid-high heat, using a wooden spoon, stir until all the liquid has evaporated. the raspberries have losed their shape and you have a thicker consistency. Set aside.

Base:

• Preheat your oven to 180 ℃. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and set it aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla essence, cooking cream and orange zest. Whisk until the mixture is fluffy and well-combined.
• Fold in the flour to the butter, making sure not to overmix it.
• Add the batter to a half of each muffin liner. In the middle, add a heaped spoon of raspberry jam and cover with some batter, to fill 3/4 of the muffin liner. You could also add some jam on top of the batter. 
• Pop in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until when you insert a toothpick in the center, it comes out clean. Let them cool completely before covering with the buttercream.

Buttercream: 

• In a large bowl, add the butter at room temperature. Using an electric mixer, mix for a few minutes until it gets a lighter color.
• After turning the mixer off, add one third of the icing sugar and the salt, and keep mixing until it's all well-combined with the butter. Repeat this with the remaining sugar in two more steps.
• Lastly, pour the cooking cream and the vanilla essence, and mix for a few more minutes until it's grown in volume and it looks smooth. 

Assembly: 

• Take a cupcake and cover with the desired amount of buttercream.
• Enjoy with a warm cup of coffee, tea, as dessert or just on its own.

Notes

• BAKING: Depending on the muffin liner's size, cooking time may vary. 
• BUTTERCREAM: It's possible to replace the cooking cream with whole milk. Both ingredients help to get a runnier buttercream.
• STORAGE: Store it in an air-tight container for a max of 3 days in the fridge.