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Home » Desserts » Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes

Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes

Jan 30, 2020 · by Valentina · 10 Comments

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Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes are a delicious treat for Valentine’s Day when dressed up with buttercream and raspberries on top. Or skip the frosting and it’s a muffin for breakfast. This easy recipe includes a gluten-free option.

three fresh raspberry cupcakes with raspberries on top

Are you doing anything for Valentine’s Day? My plan is to make these raspberry cupcakes and share them with friends and family.

With a lovely pink hue and the fresh flavor of raspberries, these cupcakes will delight everyone.

3 stacked Fresh Raspberry Muffins on parchment paper

What’s in Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes?

  • fresh raspberries
  • butter
  • sugar
  • salt
  • eggs
  • vanilla
  • flour
  • baking powder

That’s it! They’re so easy to pull together.

fresh raspberries being mashed in glass bowl

How to Make Naturally Pink Cupcakes

It’s easy to make baking products pink with pink or red food coloring — however, to do so with natural ingredients is trickier.

Raspberries and beets are the first ingredients that come to mind. Raspberries create pink, while the beets bring more of a red-burgundy color.

You’ll notice that these Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes (or muffins) are only slightly pink — really, they’re only pink-ish. That’s because they include baking powder and there's a chemical reaction that fades the color. It's necessary to use though, as it's what creates an airy, cake-like texture.

Don't try baking soda. The pink will turn green. (You can learn why here.)

Without baking soda or powder, products using raspberries will be quite pink. In the case of cupcakes though, the consistency will be off with using one of them.

several butercream-frosted raspberry cupcakes with raspberries between them

I'm not fancy with my cupcakes. They're a bit rustic, just the way I like them -- casually pretty. 😉 

When developing this recipe for raspberry cupcakes, I did many color tests using different leavening agents. In the end, I went with baking powder which created a pink hue and they were delicious.

Here are my recipe testing results, summarized:

  1. Using baking soda. The consistency was good, but they turned out green.
  2. Using stiff egg whites. They were a deep and beautiful pink — but, the texture was wasn't good. They were too heavy.
  3. Using baking powder. They weren’t a deep pink, they had a pretty pink hue and the texture was lovely.
Stack of 4 Valentines' Day Raspberry Chocolate Cookies surrounded by fresh red raspberries.

My Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies (below) are also fantastic for Valentine’s Day. Since they’re a cookie that didn’t need leavening, I didn’t use baking soda or powder and the pink is perfect.

Variations for Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes

  • Not overly sweet, you can leave off the frosting and they’re a super tasty muffin.
  • Frost them. (I use this delicious Buttercream Recipe. One recipe will be more than enough for 12 cupcakes.)
  • Frost and decorate them with sprinkles.
  • Add fresh berries to the top.
  • Mix white or dark chocolate chips into the batter.

Close up of a butter cream-frosted raspberry cupcake

Recipe Tips

  • These cupcakes will be the most pink right out of the oven. So I wouldn’t bake them any sooner than need be, if you want that.
  • The fresher the better. In addition to the color being brighter, they’re best served the day they’re made or next day, if necessary.
  • If you opt to frost them, wait until they've completely cooled to room temperature. They should also be frosted as close to serving time as possible.
  • You will see a gluten-free option in the recipe below. I tested them with Gluten-Free Cup 4 Cup Flour. They will actually rise a bit more with this flour, and are equally as delicious.
Fresh Raspberry Cupcake cut in half with raspberries on top

Storing Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes

As I mentioned, the fresher the better. However, they will still be good after storing in the following ways:

  • Room temperature. Without frosting, Raspberry Cupcakes can be kept at room temperature in a tightly sealed container for two days.
  • Refrigerator. You can refrigerate them them for four days, but as I mentioned, it’s best to eat them as fresh as possible. If you do refrigerate them, they should be brought to room temperature before serving.
  • Freezer. In a tightly sealed container, they can be frozen for a couple of weeks, again being brought to room temperature before serving.

More recipes for Valentine’s Day

  • Valentine’s Day Nutella Brownies {Gluten-Free}
  • Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Chocolate Chip Beet Cookies
  • Champagne Blood Orange Crème Brûlée

Whether you decorate them for Valentines' day or serve them as muffins with your coffee, I hope you love them!

Raspberry cupcake cut in half with raspberries on top

Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes

Valentina K. Wein
Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes are a delicious treat for Valentine’s Day when dressed up with buttercream and raspberries on top. Or skip the frosting and it’s a muffin for breakfast. This easy recipe includes a gluten-free option.
5 from 3 votes
Print
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 288 kcal

Equipment

  • muffin pans
  • cupcake/muffin liners

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups fresh raspberries, washed and dried, divided
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour (see notes)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 recipe Buttercream (click here for recipe) (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Set oven and prepare pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin pan with pan with cupcake liners.
  • Mash raspberries. Add 1 cup of the raspberries to a small bowl and mash them with a fork or potato masher. (I love this one.) Do this until they’re as smooth as possible, but know the result will be somewhat of a lumpy juice. Set aside.
  • Make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, use electric beaters to mix the butter with the sugar and salt. Mix until it’s a bit lighter and very smooth, about 1 minute on a high speed. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Then add the puréed raspberries and mix again. (You can use a spoon to mix also, it will just take a bit of muscle.)
    Roughly chop the remaining 1 cup of raspberries and fold them into the batter with the flour and baking powder. Do not mix too much — only do so until you no long see dry spots of flour.
  • Fill pan. Divide the batter evenly among the paper cup-lined muffin pan. Each one should be filled almost to the top, but not quite.
  • Bake. Place the pan in the 350°F oven and bake until the cupcakes have risen, are starting to crack slightly, and are a tiny bit golden — about 25 minutes.
  • Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing them.

NOTES

You can also use Gluten-Free Cup 4 Cup Flour. They will actually rise a bit more with this flour, and are equally as delicious.
Calorie count is only an estimate.

NUTRITION

Calories: 288kcal
Keywords great for Valentine's Day, unique muffin recipes
Have you tried this recipe?I'd love to see it on Instagram! Tag me at @cookingontheweekends or leave a comment & rating below.

Cooking On The Weekends is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. 2pots2cook

    January 31, 2020 at 1:09 am

    5 stars
    So much in love with raspberries and both festive and every day options you suggest are great to have for special treat and office brunch. Thank you !

    Reply
    • valentina

      February 02, 2020 at 8:42 pm

      Thanks, Davorka. Such a great way to say it, "festive and every day." I love it! 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply
  2. angiesrecipes

    January 31, 2020 at 1:59 am

    They look so gorgeous with those fresh juicy raspberries! Love the tender crumbs.

    Reply
    • valentina

      February 02, 2020 at 8:41 pm

      Thanks so much, Angie! Enjoy. 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply
  3. David Scott Allen

    February 02, 2020 at 12:22 am

    I am definitely in the cupcake camp. I don’t know why, but I never eat muffins in the morning… And how could anyone resist that incredibly beautiful buttercream frosting? Thanks for an inspirational Valentine treat!

    Reply
    • valentina

      February 02, 2020 at 8:40 pm

      Thanks, David. I love frosting, too. A lot. Cheers! 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply
  4. Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop

    February 02, 2020 at 7:18 am

    5 stars
    What a great idea! I will definitely be making these for Valentine's Day and more! Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits and I love using them in just about everything!

    Reply
    • valentina

      February 02, 2020 at 8:41 pm

      This makes me happy, Kathy. Thank you. 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply
  5. Dawn - Girl Heart Food

    February 04, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    5 stars
    Another beautiful (and tasty) dessert! And you can never go wrong with buttercream, if you ask me! Love the fresh berries on top!

    Reply
    • valentina

      February 06, 2020 at 4:57 pm

      We are in agreement with the buttercream! Thanks. 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Valentina, certified chef, owner, recipe developer and photographer at Cooking on the Weekends. I'm also a mom of two boys and a Los Angeleno. I use seasonal whole foods to create unique and comforting recipes for casual entertaining.

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