Egg-less Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

This post is a special one. A very very special one. These gorgeous cupcakes were baked for my birthday a few weeks ago… But that’s not why it is so special. It is special because the foodie baked them!

What do you do when someone offers to bake you a cake? You accept the offer. Period. The foodie has been offering to bake a cake for my birthday for a few years now. The only catch being that I ‘guide’ him. And since I didn’t want that extra responsibility on my special day, I always brushed it off. But this year, I gave in to his demands. I offered to guide him, and told him the roles would be reversed; I would only ‘assist’ him, and he would have to take charge of the whole kitchen. Let’s just say now I hope that everyday is my birthday.

After scanning through Pinterest for the ‘perfect’ cupcakes for my birthday, and then getting really confused with all the wonderful options that we had to choose from, we chose to keep it simple. And pretty… ‘cos birthdays are all about PRETTY. ❤

So chocolate and raspberries it was… Such a simple yet flavorful combination! And the fact that we could color the buttercream naturally, without any artificial food coloring had me convinced that THIS was what I wanted for my birthday. Or everyday. Every s-i-n-g-l-e day.

By looking at the pictures, could you have guessed that the foodie (with no prior experience in frosting cupcakes or cakes) frosted them? I think he is going to give me a run for my money. If I ever get into baking as a profession, I know who my assistant is going to be (I don’t have to pay him, and he can’t quit!) 😉

I have only slightly altered the original recipes for buttercream and chocolate cupcakes, and even though I sourced them from two different places, this combination is a win-win!

P.S: Since this post is special, and these cupcakes were baked for my birthday, I am not adding the nutrition information at the end of this post. No calorie counting on special days.. 🙂

• Servings: 8
• Time: 60 mins
• Print

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:

• Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 1/4 cup
• All Purpose Flour/ Maida – 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons
• Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon
• Salt – 1/8 teaspoon
• Canola Oil – 1/4 cup
• Light Brown Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Flax Egg – 1 (see instructions for details)
• Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon
• Instant Coffee Powder – 1 tablespoon
• Hot Water – 1/2 cup

For the Frosting:

• Fresh Raspberries – 1 cup
• Butter (Room Temp.) – 1/2 cup
• Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon
• Powdered Sugar – 2 cups

Instructions:

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line the muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Flax Egg: Mix 1 tablespoon of flax-seed meal in 3 tablespoons of water and let it rest for 10 minutes.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
4. In a separate mixing bowl, add the instant coffee powder and hot water. Give it a good stir. Then add the oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until the sugar crystals have dissolved.
5. To the above wet ingredient mixture, add the prepared flax egg.
6. Next, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture, and mix only until well-incorporated.
7. Fill the liners with the batter up to two-thirds, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tray for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting: 

1. Puree the raspberries in a blender and filter it using a sieve. This is done to remove the seeds from the puree.
2. Place this sieved puree in a sauce-pan and heat it on a low-medium flame till the puree looks thickened, darker, and coats the back of a spoon completely and easily. This takes around 15 minutes. Set it aside to cool down completely.
3. Using a stand mixer or a hand-held one, beat the butter and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar in parts and beat until the frosting looks smooth and creamy.
4. Add the prepared raspberry puree to this frosting and incorporate it well.
5. Place it in the refrigerator for future use, or refrigerate it for around 30 minutes for it to gain piping consistency for immediate use.
6. Frost as desired, and add toppings of choice.

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NOTE:

• The original recipe for chocolate cupcakes can be found here and the one for buttercream can be found here.
• Since the buttercream recipe uses only butter, it is less firm compared to the store bought ones that use a combination of buttercream+shortening.

I am sharing this at Angie’s Fiesta Friday #90, co-hosted by Effie @ Food Daydreaming and Lindy @ Lindy Mechefske