Moist chocolate espresso cupcakes topped with raspberry buttercream.
This post may contain affiliate links, please read the privacy policy for details. This post is sponsored by Papanicholas Coffee. All opinions are my own.
chocolate raspberry cupcakes
These chocolate raspberry cupcakes are perfect for any time, but especially for Valentine’s Day. They’re rich, fudgy, and have a sweet, flavorful, naturally colored raspberry buttercream frosting on top. The cocoa is bloomed with chocolate raspberry espresso, which not only brings out more chocolate-y flavor, but adds even more richness and raspberry flavor to the cupcakes themselves. These are super easy to make, are small batch, and are packed full of chocolate and raspberry flavor.
why you’ll love these chocolate raspberry cupcakes:
- They’re super rich and chocolatey: dutch cocoa powder makes these cupcakes *so* nice and chocolatey.
- They’re small batch: like a lot of the recipes you’ll find here, these cupcakes are small batch – yielding 6 delicious cupcakes.
- They’re packed with raspberry flavor: a combination of chocolate raspberry espresso in the cupcakes themselves, and freeze-dried raspberries in the raspberry frosting makes it so these cupcakes pack a lot of raspberry flavor.
papanicholas coffee
I’ve partnered again with my all-time favorite coffee brand: papanicholas coffee for these chocolate raspberry cupcakes. I use their coffee beans every day and am so happy to be able to partner with them to spread the love of their coffee. In this recipe I used their chocolate raspberry espresso beans, which has flavor notes of sun-ripened raspberry and dark cocoa. I definitely highly recommend trying some of their coffee, they have so many delicious flavors and are always the coffee I use in my recipes (and for my daily caffeine dose!). You can find their website by clicking here. Also, if you do end up purchasing their coffee be sure to use code FRESH20 for 20% off your coffee order!
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
How to make your chocolate cupcakes more chocolatey:
The secret to getting more chocolate flavor into your chocolate cake? Bloom your cocoa powder! Blooming your cocoa powder just means that you’re mixing the cocoa with a hot liquid. Here we’re using hot espresso to both bloom the cocoa and add moisture into the cake. Adding in the hot espresso releases the cocoa powder particles from a very thin membrane on them, exposing cocoa solids and bringing out more flavor. It’s truly such a simple way to add more chocolate flavor into your bakes, and makes it easier for the cocoa to incorporate into the batter.
Be careful when mixing the cupcake batter:
When you over-mix your batter, you create more gluten in the batter which will make your cupcakes go from light and moist to dense and chewy. When you’re mixing in the dry ingredients, be sure that you only mix *just until* that last streak of flour disappears into the batter.
Use room temperature ingredients:
This is super important for allowing the batter to come together smoothly. You’ll want to take your ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before baking to allow them enough time to come to room temperature.
Keep a close eye on the cupcakes while they bake:
Cakes and cupcakes like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. I’d recommend that you start checking on the cake around 15 minutes.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for chocolate raspberry cupcakes
chocolate cupcakes:
- All purpose flour: the structure of the cupcakes
- Baking powder: for leavening and giving that “cakey” texture
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness
- Dutch process cocoa powder: gives the cupcakes a deep, rich chocolate flavor. You can use natural cocoa powder here as well, just note that the cupcakes will be much lighter in color.
- Espresso: a shot of hot espresso poured over the cocoa helps bring out that ultra-chocolatey flavor. For these, I used papanicholas chocolate raspberry espresso beans which just brought even more delicious chocolate & raspberry flavor to the cupcakes. You can use freshly brewed espresso from a machine or instant espresso mixed with the appropriate amount of hot water. Hot coffee will also work well here too. If you are avoiding espresso or coffee, you can just use hot water in it’s place.
- Vegetable oil: tenderizes the cupcakes. Any neutral oil, such as canola, will also work here.
- Granulated sugar: sweetens the cupcakes and helps lock in the moisture.
- Egg: contributes moisture to the cupcakes and helps bind the batter together
- Sour cream: tenderizes and adds moisture to the cupcakes. I recommend using full-fat sour cream for the best texture.
raspberry buttercream:
- Unsalted butter: the base of the buttercream. Feel free to use salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt if using!
- Freeze-dried raspberries: for flavor. There’s really no substitute for these since using regular raspberries would add too much moisture and create a wet buttercream.
- Salt: helps balance and bring out the sweetness of the buttercream
- Powdered sugar: sweetens and thickens up the buttercream. If you are looking for more of a melt-in-your-mouth texture, use organic powdered sugar!
- Heavy cream: helps thin out the frosting to a pipeable consistency. Milk will also work well here!
how to make chocolate raspberry cupcakes
Here are the steps to follow to make these cupcakes. You can find the complete recipe (which is printable!) at the end of this blog post.
- Start by mixing together the cocoa powder and hot espresso.
- Then whisk in the rest of the wet ingredients, followed by all of the dry ingredients.
- Distribute the cupcake batter evenly between six parchment liners, and bake.
- Beat together the raspberry buttercream ingredients, then frost the cupcakes once they’ve cooled to room temperature. Enjoy!
chocolate raspberry cupcakes recipe q&a
do I need to use espresso in these cupcakes?
I highly recommend using espresso in these cupcakes (especially papanicholas!) If for any reason you don’t want to or can’t use espresso in these cupcakes, that is perfectly fine! Simply replace the hot espresso with an equal amount of hot water or hot milk.
can I double this recipe?
Of course! Obviously they will not be small batch anymore but small batch isn’t always what we need! Simply double all of the ingredients in the recipe to make 12 delicious cupcakes. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.
can I make these cupcakes ahead of time?
Definitely! I would recommend making the cupcakes no more than two days ahead of time. Store the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. I’d recommend waiting to make the buttercream until the day you want to serve them.
how to store the cupcakes
Like most baked goods, these cupcakes will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. You can store the frosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.
can I turn this into a cake?
Definitely! Bake the cake in a 6″ cake pan. Just note that it will take a bit longer to bake because it will be bigger and thicker than the cupcakes.
tools and ingredients
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 90 g all purpose flour (¾ c.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 32 g dutch process cocoa powder (⅓ c.)
- 60 g freshly brewed Papanicholas Chocolate Raspberry Espresso (2 oz.)
- 75 g vegetable oil (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 75 g sour cream (⅓ c.) room temperature
Raspberry Buttercream
- 170 g unsalted butter (¾ c.) room temperature
- 2 tbsp. freeze-dried raspberries crushed
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 240 g powdered sugar (2 c.)
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a muffin tin with 6 parchment liners.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and freshly brewed espresso.
- Let the mixture sit for 2 minutes, then whisk in the vegetable oil, sugar, egg, and sour cream until well combined.
- Add in the flour mixture, and whisk together just until no flour streaks remain.
- Distribute the cupcake batter evenly between the 6 liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean
Raspberry Buttercream
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, freeze dried raspberries, and salt until combined.
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Then, beat in the rest of the powdered sugar.
- Slowly pour in the heavy cream while mixing the frosting, only using enough to achieve a pipeable frosting consistency.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with your tip of choice. Frost the cupcakes, then garnish with a small amount of melted chocolate nd fresh raspberries if desired., or with a small heart cookie. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Can I use fresh raspberries?
Hi, you won’t be able to use fresh strawberries in the buttercream as the water content in them will unfortunately turn the buttercream soupy. You could, however, add in some fresh raspberries in the cupcake batter before baking them if you’d like!
Can I use regular espresso in place of the chocolate raspberry espresso
What do u suggest.
Hi, yes any espresso will work – plain or flavored! If you’re using a flavored espresso just make sure the flavor would still pair well with raspberry!
I made these cupcakes for my birthday. I fell in love with them!!!! These are absolutely delightful. I love chocolate and raspberry and have been looking for a recipe with raspberry cream instead of the gel. I had never bloomed my cocoa in a recipe and immediately knew the difference when I could smell the flavors marrying together. I am making the blueberry muffins tomorrow for my sons birthday and cannot wait to taste them.
Thank you so much Tiffanie, I’m so happy you enjoyed these cupcakes! 🙂