Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes

When reading this post I have to admit I would forgive you for thinking I was lacking a bit on the imagination front: while dark chocolate and raspberry is a delicious flavour combo, it isn’t actually anything new. But you know the saying, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

In fact this blog post is one of many recipes that I have tried while working in the Alps, and I can happily admit that it is definitely the one that has been most successful! If you read my post for Lemon Drizzle Cake a couple of months ago, you will know that I aimed this more at people wanting to work a season and wanted tips for nailing their afternoon tea. With this post I therefore continue the trend, and am therefore focussing on flavours that are slightly more universal (aka not wasabi blondies).This works well as it is safe to say the ingredients are definitely limited at 1800m above sea level. And if you can get them they are normally quite expensive. Therefore it is definitely important that you can be creative with what you’ve got to work with, and these cupcakes are a basic example of how you can do this.

Yoghurt cakes are a staple in the mountains. Where the altitude stops your regular Victoria sponge rising, this recipe consistently turns out some pretty delicious cakes while being quick and simple. Put a few tweaks on your standard recipe and you can come up with a variety of recipes to keep guests happy. All I did with mine was add some cocoa powder and melted chocolate to the batter and the icing, replace a natural yoghurt pot with a fruity yoghurt, and add a small dollop of raspberry jam in the middle!

And that’s all there is to it! If I do say so myself the recipe is fairly delicious. Obviously the sharpness of the raspberry cuts perfectly through the chocolate, and the jam in the middle takes the flavour one step further. And they’re really pretty too! Sandwich bags work perfectly for simple piping, and slapping a raspberry on top lifts the colour and makes them look 100x more appetising! However this will look great in cake form too, and I know raspberry and white chocolate is a firm favourite amongst the other hosts if you can get your hands on it! But either way I hope you enjoy!

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes (makes 18 cakes)

For the Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 1 small pot natural yoghurt (or raspberry if you have it)
• 1 yoghurt pot of sugar
• 1 yoghurt pot of sunflower oil
• 3 yoghurt pots of flour
• 1 sachet baking powder
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 40g dark chocolate
• Raspberry Jam

For the Icing:

• 125g butter, slightly soft
• Icing sugar
• 50g chocolate (plus an extra 10g for decoration)
• Milk
• Cocoa Powder
• uFresh whole raspberries

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/ 160C Fan.
2. Mix the eggs, yoghurt, sugar, oil, flour and baking powder in a bowl until evenly mixed, then stir in the cocoa powder.
3. Melt the chocolate and add this to the batter
4. Line a muffin tin with cases and put a large teaspoon of the batter in the bottom of each case. Top this with a small teaspoon of raspberry jam, and then distribute the rest of the mix evenly on top of each cupcake.#
5. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes until a skewer or knife comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.
6. In the meantime make the icing but putting the butter in a bowl with a decent amount of icing sugar and a splash of milk. Beat together with an electric whisk until it becomes pale and smooth, and then taste to make sure you are happy with the flavour. Adjust the levels of icing sugar and milk until you get the right sweetness and consistency.
7. Once you are happy with your icing melt the chocolate in the microwave and add, along with the cocoa powder. Taste again to make sure it is suitably chocolatey!
8. Fill a sandwich bag with the icing and cut a small whole in one corner. Pipe into round splodges and pop a whole raspberry on top. Finish by peeling some chocolate over the top to create little chocolate curls.