These cute raspberry and lemon swirl cupcakes hide a sweet surprise – a pink heart baked into the batter. Perfect for Valentine’s day.
My kitchen adventures started when I was very young – about 3 or 4. I would perch on the kitchen counter and help my mother or nana mix batter, or sort through dry lentils or roll biscuits. There are (apocryphal) stories of me dazzling the relatives by recounting the ingredients of recipes.
It feels natural to continue the tradition by having my kids get their hards dirty (literally) when I bake. My daughter at 7 is a fairly accomplished baker herself and very enthusiastic. My son is a Master Pâtissier – at least where iPad apps are concerned!
When I found out (a little late!) that Rangecookers were running a competition to create creative cupcakes, Anya threw herself into the task. Her ideas were slightly outlandish to say the least but we collaborated and, ahem, compromised to create these incredibly delicious Raspberry Lemon Swirl cupcakes – with a hidden message!
PS: you don’t have to have both sprinkles AND buttercream but my daughter would not budge on the sprinkles. So there you have it.
Ingredients
- For raspberry purée
- 200 g raspberries | 7oz
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
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- For the cupcakes
- 150 g unsalted butter | 1 1/4 sticks
- 200 g caster sugar | 1 cup
- 3 large eggs
- 150 g self raising flour | scant 1 1/4 cups
- 60 g ground almonds | generous 1/2 cup
- Zest of 1 lemon very finely grated
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- A few drops lemon extract
- Pinch salt
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- For the cupcake hearts
- Pink food colouring
- 1-2 tbsp raspberry purée
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- For the buttercream
- 300-500 g icing sugar | 3-4 cups - more if needed
- 150 g unsalted butter at room temperature | 1 1/4 sticks
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- A few drops lemon extract
- <br>
- Raspberry buttercream
- 2-3 tbsp raspberry purée
- Pink food colouring
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- Syrup optional
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp water
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- Lemon glaze
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 100-200 g icing sugar | 1-2 cups
- Boiling water if needed
- 1 pot pastel sprinkles
Instructions
- To make the raspberry purée, put all the ingredients in a pan. Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the sugar dissolves and the sauce reduces slightly. Use a potato masher to muddle the raspberries then sieve them to get rid of the seeds. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180C | 350F. Combine the flour, almonds, baking powder, salt and zest.
- Cream the butter and sugar until pale coloured and fluffy. Add one egg and whisk until completely incorporated. Repeat with remaining eggs adding 1 tablespoon of flour mixture with each one.
- Add remaining flour and lemon extract and whisk until combined. Note: best if all ingredients are at room temperature otherwise the batter may curdle.
- Put 1/3 of the batter in a bowl and add the raspberry purée and enough food colouring to create a nice pink colour. Pour into a small tray (or in cupcake cases) - you will need a thin layer. Bake for 10-15 minutes then cool. Stamp out small heart shapes with a cutter.
- Line your muffin tin with cupcake cases. Put about 1 tablespoon of batter in each case then place a heart at the centre facing up. Carefully spoon more batter around the heart and then just cover it with a thin layer of batter. It is important not to overfill the cases as the batter will rise. Bake for 20-25 minutes until firm. Try not to overbake as cupcakes may become a bit dry.
- While the cupcakes are baking put all ingredients for the syrup in a pan and heat gently until sugar dissolves. Brush a little of the syrup on each of the cupcakes as they are cooling (optional - it increases moistness and flavour though).
- To make the lemon glaze mix all the ingredients together with a whisk until you have a thin glaze. Adjust the consistency with boiling water if too thick. Pour your sprinkles in a plate. Either brush or dip the cupcakes in the glaze then immediately dip into the sprinkles.
- To make the buttercream, whisk all the ingredients together on high speed for several minutes until you have smooth, stiff peaks. Put half of the buttercream in a bowl. Tint the remaining buttercream with raspberry purée and a bit of food colouring - you will need to add more icing sugar to achieve stiff peaks as the purée will thin it out.
- Fit a large piping bag with a large star tip. Lay the bag on it's side and carefully fill half the side of the bag with lemon buttercream. Flip over and fill the other side with raspberry buttercream. This will create the swirl effect. Pipe the buttercream on the cupcakes.
defairmans says
Oh my gosh! These are so cute and I bet they taste yummy!
flickabella1 says
They look divine, have always wanted to try that heart idea!
Felicity kelly
Maggie Ali says
they look fantastic! your daughter is just like mine 🙂 everything has to have sprinkles on 🙂
beano54 says
these look Amazing i need to make them now
Choclette says
Congratulations on winning, you did well. I've finally got around to posting the results on my blog.
Janine says
These cupcakes are fantastic! They look pretty complex – you both must have put a lot of time into them. Good luck!
supergoldenbakes says
Thanks for the comments everyone – this really is Anya's prize as she insisted on us entering. Not sure if I will cope with an oven that actually works let alone one as fancy as a Rangecooker. My kitchen is the smallest and possibly ugliest in the world but we do have plans to finally fix it up (after 11 years) so this is really the icing on the cake. I do think there were some incredible entries to this competition (Angela your post is fantastic – not just the recipe but the whole write up).
Janice Pattie says
They look delightful and I love the sprinkles with the buttercream, so pretty. Anya Rules OK!
Elizabeth S says
These are gorgeous! Congratulations on winning the cooker! What a fantastic prize!!! 😀
Angela Darroch says
A worthy winner of the new oven. Beautiful!!
Lauren Roffey says
Ah they look great and so lovely that it was a collaborative bake with your daughter. At 28 I am pretty sure I would still opt for buttercream AND sprinkles 😉
Kat Buckley says
These are so gorgeous! I love the idea of sprinkles hidden underneath the buttercream – your daughter has a great future in baking!
Aimee / Wallflower Girl says
These are so super adorable. I love the heart shape in the middle!
supergoldenbakes says
Thank you – they are pretty tasty inside and out!
Sarah | The Sugar Hit says
These are too cute, and they sound delicious.