Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
These chocolate raspberry cupcakes combine rich chocolate cake, sweet raspberry filling, silky raspberry buttercream frosting, and a rich chocolate ganache drizzle for the ultimate indulgence. Finished with fresh raspberries, they strike the perfect balance of sweet, tart, and decadent. They’re bakery-worthy but easy enough to make at home.
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
These chocolate raspberry cupcakes are basically the baking equivalent of “Raspberry Beret”—bold, a little flirty, and bursting with berry attitude.
Each cupcake starts with moist chocolate cake filled with a sweet raspberry filling. The cupcakes are swirled with bright raspberry buttercream, and finished with a chocolate ganache drizzle that would make even Prince raise an eyebrow.
Fresh raspberries add that final pop of color and flavor, like a raspberry beret.
One bite and you’ll understand why raspberry and chocolate is a love story for the ages.
If you think raspberries are totally rad, check out my raspberry cupcakes, raspberry almond cake, and chocolate raspberry cake.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Decadent flavor combination: Chocolate and raspberry are a timeless flavor duo that never misses.
- Moist chocolate cupcakes: Rich, moist chocolate cupcakes that are easy to make.
- Balanced sweetness: The raspberry buttercream and raspberry filling have the perfect sweet and tart flavor to balance out the sweetness and bitterness of the chocolate.
- Bakery-quality vibe: The cupcakes are visually stunning with the contrast on the deep brown and pink colors.
- Perfect for parties: Ideal for birthdays, showers, holidays or anytime you want a decadent treat.
Recipe Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Dark cocoa or dutch-process cocoa powder
- Boiling water
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda + salt
- Eggs – Room temperature.
- Vegetable oil – Substitute with your favorite neutral baking oil.
- Vanilla extract
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- Unsalted butter – Room temperature.
- Powdered sugar
- Raspberry reduction – Room temperature. Learn how to make raspberry reduction here.
- Heavy cream – Room temperature.
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
Other Components
- Raspberry filling – Use store-bought or make your own homemade raspberry filling.
- Chocolate ganache – Semisweet chocolate + heavy cream.
- Fresh raspberries
How to Make Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Make the chocolate cupcake batter.
Fill the cupcake liners with the chocolate cupcake batter.
Bake and cool the cupcakes.
Make the raspberry buttercream frosting.
Remove the center of the chocolate cupcakes with an apple corer.
Fill the cupcakes with the raspberry filling.
Use a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip to frost the cupcakes with the raspberry buttercream frosting.
Drizzle the cupcakes with chocolate ganache and decorate with fresh raspberries.
Courtney’s Expert Cupcake Baking Tips
- Use dark or dutch-process cocoa powder for the richest chocolate flavor and deep color.
- Use a liquid measuring cup to easily fill the cupcake liners as the cupcake batter is thin.
- Make the raspberry reduction and raspberry filling ahead of time and keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Bring the reduction to room temperature before making the frosting.
- Use an apple corer to remove the center of the cupcakes before filling.
- To make super smooth frosting, temper the buttercream. Heat ½ cup of the frosting in the microwave for about 20 seconds to melt it slightly. Then, add the melted buttercream back to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed for several minutes.
- Drizzle the chocolate ganache onto the frosted cupcakes using a piping bag or a squeeze bottle for easy control. Make sure the ganache is at room temperature so it doesn’t melt the frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Raspberry reduction is a concentrated raspberry sauce made from cooking, pureeing, and straining frozen raspberries. It adds intense raspberry flavor and a beautiful pink color to the frosting. You can check out my tutorial on how to make berry reduction. Use frozen raspberries for the best results. Make the raspberry reduction up to 1 week in advance.
Don’t worry if your frosting appears to look split or curdled. Just keep whipping for several minutes until it comes together. We are adding a water-based substance (raspberry reduction) to a fat-based substance (butter) and that takes a lot of whipping to emulsify. The temperature of the ingredients can also cause this to happen.
For this recipe, I recommend sticking with a dark cocoa, dutch-process cocoa, or even black cocoa powder. It will give the cupcakes a richer chocolate flavor and the acidity in the cocoa helps to activate the baking soda.
Use an apple corer to remove the center of the cupcake. If you don’t have an apple corer, use a paring knife or a piping tip to remove the center. Use a piping bag to easily fill the center of the cupcake.
Yes! If you don’t want to make homemade raspberry filling, you could use store-bought raspberry pie filling, raspberry jam, or raspberry preserves.
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Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- ¼ cup (45 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (22 g) dark cocoa powder
- ¾ cup (180 ml) boiling water
- ¾ cup (95 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
- 2 (2) large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) vanilla extract
Raspberry Filling
- 6 oz (170 g) frozen raspberries
- 2 tbsp (24 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) lemon juice
- 1 tbsp (8 g) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) water
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (30 g) raspberry reduction (click here for the recipe)
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) heavy cream
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
Chocolate Ganache
- ¼ cup (45 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) heavy cream
Additional Ingredients
- 12 (12) fresh raspberries
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the dark cocoa/dutch-process cocoa powder, semisweet chocolate chips, and boiling water until the chocolate chips are melted. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until well combined. Add in the vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract, and whisk until the cupcake batter is well combined and smooth (the batter will be thin).
- Portion the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling about ⅔-¾ full. Use a large liquid measuring cup or a bowl with a spout to easily fill the liners.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes bounce back slightly when gently touched. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Raspberry Filling
- In a small saucepan, combine the frozen raspberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Cook over medium-low heat stirring occasionally until the raspberries are broken down and the mixture is bubbling.
- In a small separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water until smooth.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cornstarch slurry and mix well until the mixture thickens. If desired, run the raspberry filling through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Transfer the raspberry filling to a heat-proof bowl and cool to room temperature. If making ahead, store the raspberry filling in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- Before making the buttercream, make the raspberry reduction. You can make the raspberry reduction up to a week in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring the reduction to room temperature before making the buttercream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, whip the room temperature unsalted butter for 5 minutes until light, pale, and creamy.
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on the lowest speed until the sugar is combined with the butter. Add the remaining half of the powdered sugar and continue to mix on low speed until fully combined.
- Add in the raspberry reduction and mix on low speed until fully combined with the butter mixture. Then, add in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt, and continue to mix on low speed until combined and smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and whip the buttercream for about 3 to 5 minutes until it is smooth and creamy. If the buttercream looks split or curdled, this is normal, just continue to whip until it emulsifies and turns smooth and creamy. Then, turn the mixer to low speed and mix the buttercream for several minutes to remove air bubbles.
- Optional: To smooth out the buttercream, melt 1 cup of the frosting in the microwave for 15 seconds. Pour the melted frosting back into the mixing bowl and mix the frosting on low speed until the buttercream is super smooth and creamy.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat the semisweet chocolate chips and heavy cream in the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Assembling the Cupcakes
- Use an apple corer to remove the center of the chocolate cupcakes. Plunge the corer about ⅔ of the way down the cupcake, twist, and remove the cake.
- Fill a piping bag with the raspberry filling and pipe the filling into the center of the cupcake.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip with raspberry buttercream frosting. Pipe a generous swirl of the raspberry buttercream onto the filled cupcakes.
- Use a piping bag or squeeze bottle to drizzle the cooled chocolate ganache over the raspberry frosting and add a fresh raspberry to the top of each cupcake.
Notes
- Room temperature: Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day.
- Refrigerator: Store the cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Serve at room temperature for the best taste and texture.
Nutrition
Made This Recipe?
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About Courtney
Baker | 80s Lover | Cookbook Author
Courtney is a self-taught home baker and cookbook author of “Girls Just Wanna Bake Cupcakes”. She loves to create new and unique recipes while simultaneously listening to 80s music.
I made these cupcakes for my husbands birthday and they were Amazing. I changed a few things, in the cupcake mix I added 1 teaspoon of baking powder and instead of using vegetable oil I used avacado oil, and for the filling I made it easy by using a organic raspberry preserves , and for the frosting I used 1 1/2 TBS of the raspberry preserves and omitted the vanilla and salt.
Hi CJ! So happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for making it and sharing your substitution ideas. I’m so glad they worked out well!
These sound amazing! Can’t wait to try! Do you think it would work to swap the frozen raspberries for frozen strawberries? Thanx!
Absolutely! You can do the same recipe but replacing the raspberries with strawberries and it will work out great!
Tasted amazing and made a full dozen! However the cupcakes came out super small. Could I maybe double the batter recipe to make them bigger?
Hi Brianna! This recipe should make enough cupcake batter to make 12 standard sized cupcakes. Were you using a standard size cupcake pan? The liners should be about 2/3 – 3/4 full. You can certainly double the batch if you find that would be helpful!
These are the best cupcakes I’ve ever made and possibly the best I’ve tasted. Who knew I’d been missing out on raspberry buttercream all these years? So light and fluffy. The filling adds a tart little burst and the chocolate is not to sweet and super moist. Yum!
Wow, Katie! I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe! Thank you so much for trying it out and leaving a positive review!