Mini chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting. These moist cupcakes are very easy to make and the frosting is flavored with real raspberry purée that is cooked down into a very concentrated syrup. You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries for this recipe. The pink frosting is very flavorful and has an intense raspberry flavor.
Line two 24-cup mini cupcake pans (cupcake pans from Amazon) with mini baking cups (also available on Amazon) Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C).
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee (or water), canola oil, and vanilla.
Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl, and mix them on low until the batter is liquid, glossy, and without lumps.
Transfer the batter to a measuring cup (or a bowl) that has a spout, and pour it into each of the liners until they are evenly filled to about ¾ the height of the liner.
Bake the cupcakes for about 12–15 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out completely clean. The cakes should spring back when tapped lightly.
Let the cupcakes cool partly before transferring to a wire rack. Only frost them when they are completely cooled.
To make the raspberry frosting and decorate
In a small saucepan, heat the raspberries on low to extract the raspberry juice, mashing with a potato masher or the back of a spoon.
Strain out the seeds and fruit pulp using a fine-meshed sieve and transfer the strained juice back to the pot. Save the raspberry pulp for breakfast!
Heat the juice on medium to cook it down to about ¼–⅓ cup. Let cool completely before using.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with about 230 grams of icing sugar. Cream them together on low, then add the concentrated raspberry juice.
Adjust the consistency of the frosting with the last 170 grams of icing sugar, beating well to make sure that it is smooth.
To decorate: fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip (like a 1M tip you can get on Amazon) with the frosting. Pipe a rosette of frosting over each mini cupcake. Top with a pinch of sprinkles if using. Please note that the frosting will change colors slightly as it sits.