White Chocolate Frosted Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling

Last summer my husband made an adapted version of these for my birthday, his first attempt at making cupcakes, and they turned out incredible. There were rave reviews all around from these tasty treats.

Every 7 years, my husband's birthday falls on Thanksgiving. This year happens to be one of those times, so we had cupcakes alongside the pecan pie and pumpkin pie truffles I made.

If you are living in the twin cities like me, you can pick up some vegan white chocolate at Ethique Nouveau, an all vegan store in town. If not, it available at many co-ops or Whole Foods. Still no luck? Try online from Pangea, Vegan Essentials, or try making your own. My adapted recipe is below. It will not disappoint!

White Chocolate Raspberry Filled Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup granulated sugar

6 ounces white chocolate, melted

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup soy milk

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

1 Tbsp vinegar

Filling:

1/2 cup melted seedless raspberry jelly

1/2 cup frosting (see recipe below)

Frosting:

1/2 cup Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or margarine, softened

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 Tbsp soy milk or coconut milk

8 ounces white chocolate, melted

1-2 Tbsp. raspberry powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F

First, mix the soy milk and coconut milk (beverage, not from a can) with vinegar and set aside to curdle. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and mix. Whisk together remaining curdled milk mixture with the lemon extract, oil and vanilla. Melt the white chocolate slowly in the microwave, heating it 30 seconds at a time, then stirring, and repeat until it has a smooth texture. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with 2/3 cup of batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

To make filling, combine raspberry jelly and frosting until creamy. You can fill the cupcakes using a special tip made for filling baked goods, or cut out small cones from tops of cupcakes, filling them, then replacing the tops. The holes should be approximately 1/2″ across and 1/2″ deep). If you have the filling tip, insert it into the middle of the cupcake and fill it with about a tablespoon of frosting or to your preference.

To make frosting, beat margarine and shortening until fluffy. Slowly add confectioners sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until creamy. Melt white chocolate as before, and add to frosting and mix well. Add vanilla extract and soy milk, and beat until fluffy (add more sugar and/or soymilk if you need it, until you get the right texture). Generously pipe or spread onto filled cupcakes. Top each cupcakes by sprinkling with raspberry powder, a raspberry, or a gumdrop. I often use fruit powders to flavor and/or color cupcakes, frostings, and other desserts.

Cupcake