Hi.
How was your week?
Mine was pretty fabulous, thanks for asking. (You’re just so nice, I knew you would).
I hope you are feeling fabulous too!
You know there is a story behind these cupcakes. But first, let’s start with why I made them.
Well, you know how I said I was fabulous, and you may just be wondering why that is. Let me tell you it seems that everything does happen for a reason.

The choices we make lead to the places we end up. For me, things are beginning to fall right into place. It’s weird how that happens all of a sudden.
But they happen and you can only wonder why, but when you know things are good, it’s happiness. And it’s been an explosion of happiness lately!

First of all, I got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. Put that on your Fall to-do list. ASAP. Top that baby with whip cream and sprinkle with cinnamon. Happy day ahead.
Besides that, I made risotto for the first time. Perhaps I’ll post that so you can enjoy too!

I’ve also have a lot of potential career changes coming up that I’m pretty excited about. Okay, that’s an understatment. I’ve been incredibly crazy happy! More details to come on this later friends.
Lastly, I’m going to start contributing to The Bakery Spot. I’ll be writing about all things bakery. Now come on, how perfect is that? I hope you check it out!

Anyway, I was feeling pretty fabulous about all above the above. Of course you know that calls for a celebration with sinful sweets. Duh.
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
…Topped with Raspberry Whip Cream

Now on to the story behind these cupcakes.
I made them once before and brought them to my old job at Minnesota Monthly. Someone told me they were the best thing they have ever eaten.
I’m not kidding people had chocolate all over their faces. They looked like happy sugar high kids.

I really love these cupcakes. Like from the bottom of my heart.
And I just had to make them again. To make my tummy happy and to celebrate.
You see, the happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the most of everything.
What are you making the most of?
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs + 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup of almond or soy milk (vanilla or unsweetened is fine)
- 3 tablespoons of sour cream (low fat preferably)
- 12 teaspoons of seedless raspberry jam
- For the Raspberry Whipped Cream
- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon of seedless raspberry jam
- For the chocolate glaze
- 4 oz of dark chocolate bar, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- For the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl and stir until well mixed. In a large bowl beat both the sugar and butter with a mixer until well combined. Add eggs and egg white and vanilla. Next add flour mixture, milk, and sour cream. Mix until all is blended and creamy. Spoon cupcake batter into 12 muffin cups with liners. Add 1 tsp of raspberry jam to the center of each cupcake. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
- For the Raspberry Whipped Cream Frosting: Combine heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, raspberry jam, and sugar in a large bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Frost cupcakes immediately before serving. Do not let whip cream sit on cupcakes as it will break down after an hour.
- For Chocolate Glaze: Place chocolate and milk in a microwavable small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Then mix together and drizzle on top of cupcakes. Sprinkle with colored sugar to make extra pretty.

Beautiful cupcakes! Seriously–they are lick-the-computer-screen beautiful…I can’t wait to hear about your good fortunes. Keep us posted…..
Thanks Cathy! They sure are delish. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted. 🙂
These sound amazing, and are so pretty! I love the chocolate/raspberry combo.
Maggie- Great to have you! And they were so good!
Dark chocolate and raspberry is one of my favourite flavour combinations ever! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Thanks Alissa for visiting my site, let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂
I made these cupcakes for a friend for her birthday. They are AMAZING!! They were even amazing in high altitude (I adjusted them accordingly). I have not been able to find a chocolate cupcake that is moist and has a great texture to work here in Denver. These were perfect! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to make them again!!
Wonderful! Try the Elvis cupcakes next.
Monique,
If I’m making these in mini, 24 count, how long do I bake them for? 9-11 minutes? Great recipes on this site by the way, looking forward to experimenting with your recipes!!! 🙂
Hi Julie, you got it! That time should be just about right. Keep an eye on them because burnt chocolate is the worst. Also these cupcakes should be refrigerated if you are planning on using the raspberry whip cream. 🙂
You call for 1 cup of granulated sugar, but the directions say to “beat both sugars.” Which is the typo?
Hi Danielle, Thanks for catching that. It was supposed to read “beat both the sugar and the butter”.
Oh, these look mouthwatering,what a gorgeous cupcakes.I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.
I am making these today and would like people to take any leftovers home. if the cream breaks down after an hour could you put jam in the cupcake (in a well) and then cover it with batter, would that work?
I suggest you go with a different frosting then. Such as a buttercream.
Hi, iI notice that you have the Ghirardelli chocolate in your picture but you do not have that in your recipe anywhere. Did you add this to the batter or was this the chocolate that you drizzled? Also, I have another recipe where I mix lemon curd with Marscapone cheese and then fold into whipped cream and I put on the cupcakes and store them in the refrigerator until I take them to work. The icing does not break down unless you let it sit at room temperature too long, so this may work. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
these sound delicious!
I have a cupcake blog called My Year of Cupcakes. I featured your Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake recipe on day 65. Here’s the link if you wanna take a look: http://myyearofcupcakes.com/2013/10/04/day-65-dark-chocolate-raspberry-cupcakes/
Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Cool! Thank you!
This recipe looks amazing! Not gonna lie, as soon as I saw the photo i got worried the icing would have food coloring. So glad it doesn’t as i have a food allergy! Now I’m going to the store to find seedless raspberry jam! Thank you Monique, for this recipe and all you’re great recipes!
All natural in here 🙂 Thanks for your note Laura! Hope you love these!
Hey lady!
I absolutely LOVE your recipes and have quite a few that I make over and over again- thank you for sharing your creations with all of us! I swear you are making the world a better place, one meal at a time 😉
I am planning to make these for my daughters birthday party this weekend- I don’t have a microwave, and wondered the best method for melting the chocolate? Stainless steel bowl in pot of water?
And how bad will it be if I need to frost them ahead of time.. ? Can I adjust the frosting recipe to allow for it to be delicious if frosted hours before they are eaten?
Thanks so much! Wishing you a wonderful day- or night- whenever you read this 🙂
Oooo I just read in a past comment that the cupcakes can be refrigerated to help the icing last longer- do I have this right? I really want to keep the recipe as is if possible, but will need to prep them ahead of time by at least a couple hours 😬
-G
Yes, that should work totally fine!
Hi! Yes a metal bowl over a pot of water (bowl not touching the water)’s perfect 🙂 Can’t wait for you to try them! Hope they come out amazing.
Yay! Thank you Monique! I can’t wait to taste them 🤤
Of course! Enjoy!
We substituted coconut sugar, cow milk, and full-fat sour cream and the batter was beautiful! I do wonder if 2024 Monique agrees with 2011 on “low fat sour cream”. We also borrowed the raspberry buttercream recipe from the almond lemon” raspberry cake recipe” We used jam with seeds for the cupcakes and the frosting to save time, and we will be using the recipe again for birthdays.
We ended up with 16 frosted cupcakes in a catering foil pan and 3 eaten along the way, so very friendly recipe for cooking with kids. Thank You!
Oh wow this is a vintage AK recipe! I’m glad they still turned out 🙂 and yes, my food philosophies over the years have really changed!
These look so delicious! I’m making them for my daughters third birthday, but the recipe says don’t frost cupcakes until right before you serve. Can I make the cupcakes and frosting the night before and refrigerate and then frost on the day of the party? Or how would you suggest prepping some of this before the party? Thank you!
Yes, feel free to make both the night before and then assemble when you’re ready to serve!