I wanted to do something extra special for Valentine’s Day this year, and since I have become pretty enamored with rose water, I thought chocolate cupcakes with pink raspberry frosting that look, smell, and even taste a bit like roses would be perfect! Can you think of a better Valentine’s gift than a dozen homemade chocolate raspberry rose cupcakes? I can’t.
Just give me the recipe!

I came across the cake recipe in a cookbook I’ve had for a while but only used once or twice. I did adapt it a bit, and the cupcakes turned out well, though unfortunately it uses quite a lot of bowls. I do appreciate not having to break out the double boiler, though.

The raspberry frosting recipe in the book seemed too complicated, so I just made up my own. Next time I might try to figure out something that uses seedless raspberry jam instead of strained raspberry puree, just because the straining process is irritating to me. But the resulting frosting is so delicious that it’s hard to be mad about it. Hope you love these cupcakes, too, and that you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Chocolate rose cupcakes with raspberry-rose buttercream

(Adapted from Vintage Cakes, makes about 3 dozen cupcakes)
Cake
4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons rose water
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola or other flavorless cooking oil
3 egg yolks
3 whole eggs

Preheat the oven to 350F and line three cupcake/muffin tins with paper liners.

Chop up the chocolate and place it in a small bowl, then add the cocoa powder. Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the chocolate, then let it sit for at least a minute. Whisk the mixture until it’s smooth, then add in the sour cream, vanilla and rose water and whisk again.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together into a separate bowl, then stir or whisk it to make sure it’s really mixed.

Place the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl, if using a hand-held electric mixer), then beat it all together on medium-high speed until it’s nice and fluffy. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then turn it on low speed and slowly pour in the oil. Once it is combine, turn the mixer back up to medium-high and let it go for a few minutes, until the mixture looks fluffy.

At this point, you’ll want to separate the eggs if you haven’t already. Turn the mixer back to low and add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, but you don’t have to wait long in between — as soon as the egg or yolk is mixed into the batter, add the next one.

Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Turn the mixer back on low, and as soon as the flour starts to get combined with the wet ingredients, add half of the chocolate/sour cream mixture. As soon as that’s mixed in, add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then once it’s just combined, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the spatula again. Add the other half of the chocolate/sour cream mixture, turn the mixer on low, and then add the last of the flour mixture. Before it’s totally combined, turn the mixer off and finish mixing with the spatula.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when pressed lightly with your finger. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting on the top of the cupcakes look like roses, use a Wilton 1M piping tip (or other large open star tip), and make swirls on the top of the cupcakes, starting at the center and moving outward.

Raspberry-rose buttercream
12-oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed in the fridge overnight
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, near room temperature but still a bit cool/not completely soft if possible
2 pounds plus 1-2 cups powdered sugar (no need to sift)
5 teaspoons rose water

*Please note: This recipe makes a lot of frosting, so you will have a decent amount left over after decorating the cupcakes. You can halve the recipe if you don’t want to have leftovers, but  did it this way because it used the entire bag of thawed raspberries.* 

Puree the raspberries in a blender, then pour into a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Use a spoon or spatula to help force the juices through the strainer, then allow it to sit for a while, until all or at least most of the juices have gone through to the bowl, leaving the seeds in the strainer.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl, if using a hand-held electric mixer) and beat on medium-high speed for about 30 seconds. Add about 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat to combine, then continue adding the powdered sugar roughly 2 cups at a time, beating after each addition, until you’ve added two pounds (about 8 cups). Turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes, until the frosting is fluffy.

Add the rose water and the raspberry juices (without the seeds), and mix on low to combine, then turn the mixer up to medium-high again and beat for about two minutes. Look at the frosting, and if it’s too runny, add another cup or two of powdered sugar and beat to combine. Keep adding powdered sugar until the frosting is as firm as you’d like it, then beat the frosting for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Use a spatula to put the frosting in a large piping bag (I like to use the 16-inch bags when piping cupcakes), then frost the cooled cupcakes. Store cupcakes and any leftover frosting in the refrigerator.

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