This is a recipe for raspberry cupcakes made with vanilla cupcakes that have Raspberry Jell-O swirled into the batter topped with raspberry buttercream frosting.
Raspberry cupcakes are delicious and typically we see them mixed with cheesecake, lemon, or white chocolate.
I wanted to create a simple cupcake recipe for just raspberry. I tried various methods to use fresh raspberries, like dehydrating them, which took over 24 hours. Then I blended them into raspberry powder in a food processor.
But that took so long just to make cupcakes and they produced more of a gray color. That meant having to add food coloring to the cupcakes to make them look tasty.
Plus, most of us aren’t planning to spend two days making cupcakes. We want them now!
The next thing I thought of that was similar to the fine raspberry powder was gelatin powder. It has the flavor, the pink-red color, and it’s all in one little box that’s really cheap. No dehydrator or food processor was needed and they tasted great!
It reminds me a lot of the ruby slipper bundt cake, which I happen to have a cupcake version of as well.
In total, you will only need one 3-ounce box of raspberry gelatin for both the cupcakes and the frosting.
Ingredients for Raspberry Cupcakes
- Vegetable Oil
- Sugar
- Large Eggs
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Sour Cream
- Milk
- Raspberry Gelatin Powder (Will also be used in the frosting)
- Toothpick
Ingredients for Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- Butter
- Confectioners’ Sugar
- Raspberry Gelatin Powder
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Fresh Raspberries, for topping
Looking for more fall cupcakes? Try these 36 fun fall cupcakes!
How to Make Raspberry Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add oil, sugar, and vanilla. Blend in eggs. Add sour cream and milk. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and add to the bowl.
- Mix well and add about 3 tablespoons of batter to each cupcake liner.
- Spoon ¼ teaspoon of raspberry Jell-O powder onto the top of the batter in each cupcake liner. Using a toothpick, swirl the powder into the batter.
- Bake for 12-16 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a cupcake. Allow cupcakes to fully cool before frosting.
How to Make Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- Add butter, Jell-O powder, vanilla, and salt to the mixing bowl.
- Begin adding confectioners’ sugar and alternate with heavy whipping cream until reaching desired consistency.
Note: The entire 2 lbs of confectioners’ sugar should be used, and about ¾ cup to 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until it is creamy. This provides enough frosting to decorate all 24 cupcakes with a tall decorative swirl of frosting.
How to Decorate Raspberry Cupcakes
Decorating cupcakes can be as simple as using a butter knife and spreading the frosting on top with a few sprinkles. For something a little fancier, using icing tips can make frosting cupcakes go pretty quick once you get the hang of it.
I used Wilton’s 6B tip for the cupcakes in the photos and then topped each one with a raspberry. I used to practice using different frosting tips on wax or parchment paper just to try different techniques.
Check out my cupcake baking guide that answers all of your questions about baking, ingredient substitutes, and decorating the perfect cupcakes!
Try these other delicious cupcakes!
- Berry Wine Cupcakes
- Pink Champagne Cupcakes
- Cherry Chip Cupcakes
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino Cupcakes
- Summer-Themed Cupcakes
Enjoy!
Raspberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Raspberry Cupcakes
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ cups Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 ¾ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- ½ cup Milk
- 3 ounces Box of Raspberry Jell-O, divided (Will also be used in the frosting)
- Toothpick
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup Butter, softened
- 4 cups Confectioners’ Sugar
- ⅓ cup Raspberry Jell-O Powder
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2-3 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream, until desired consistency
- Fresh Raspberries, for topping
Instructions
Raspberry Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add oil, sugar, and vanilla. Blend in eggs. Add sour cream and milk. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and add to the bowl. Mix well and add about 3 tablespoons of batter to each cupcake liner.
- Spoon ¼ teaspoon of raspberry Jell-O powder onto the top of batter in each cupcake liner. Using a toothpick, swirl the powder into the batter.
- Bake for 12-16 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a cupcake.
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- Add butter, Jell-O powder, vanilla, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream to the mixing bowl. Begin slowly adding confectioners' sugar until well blended. Add 1-2 additional tablespoons of heavy cream as necessary until reaching the desired consistency.
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