Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
These Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes have a raspberry-filled center that are topped with a light and fluffy raspberry vanilla cream frosting! Serve these delicious cupcakes to friends and family in under 35 minutes!
On the search for the perfect cupcake recipe? My homemade Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes or easy-to-make Golden Oreo Cupcakes are both delicious options that won’t disappoint!
These Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes are absolutely to die for! From the easy-to-make, rich and moist chocolate cupcakes, to the perfectly tart raspberry-filled centers, this dessert won’t let you down in the least bit!
However, the very best part of these cupcakes may very well be the incredibly fluffy and creamy Raspberry Vanilla Crème Frosting! It tastes exactly like a Raspberry Cream Saver and it’s absolutely phenomenal!
Don’t be surprised when you find yourself making only the raspberry frosting recipe just to eat it straight from the bowl! Yes, it’s THAT good!
5 Reasons Why I Love This Recipe!
- Homemade Or Store-bought filling! You get to choose if you opt for making a homemade filling or if you’d like to cut a corner and grab premade filling!
- Ready In No Time! These cupcakes taste like you just grabbed them from your favorite bakery! When you really just whipped them up yourself in under 35 minutes!
- Serves A Crowd! This recipe delivers about two dozen cupcakes! A great amount to enjoy when they’re freshly made, share with friends, AND still save some for a midnight snack!
- Make Them Ahead Of Time! Make the raspberry-filled cupcakes ahead of time and when you’re close to serving them just quickly pipe the frosting on!
- Doctored Up Cake Mix! This chocolate cupcake recipe doctors up a cake mix to create my good ole trusty stand by! It never fails, never disappoints, and never gets old!
Ingredient Notes
This recipe starts with a boxed dark chocolate fudge cake mix. From there it gets doctored up with a boxed instant chocolate pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, whole milk, vanilla extract, salt, and mini chocolate chips!
Then the center of each cupcake gets taken out using a cupcake corer. The center then gets filled with raspberry filling, you can choose between homemade Raspberry Filling or storebought!
The raspberry-filled cupcakes then get topped with a delicious swirl of raspberry cream frosting! Made with freeze-dried raspberries, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and instant vanilla pudding mix, this raspberry frosting really completes this dessert!
Once your cupcakes have been cored, filled, and frosted you can top each one with fresh raspberries!
If you love chocolate and fruit paired together in cake form, try these Chocolate Orange Cupcakes, too!
How To Make Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
- Beat together all of the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl until combined.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
- Remove the center of the cupcakes using a cupcake corer. Then fill them with the raspberry filling.
- Blend the freeze-dried raspberries using a food processor until dust forms.
- Whip the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and pudding mix with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Beat in the raspberry powder.
- Pipe the frosting onto the filled cupcakes and then serve immediately for the best texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
How To Store
Store these Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once they’re frosted I recommend enjoying them within 24 hours.
What Can I Substitute The Sour Cream For?
The sour cream in this recipe really ensures these chocolate cupcakes come out perfectly tender and moist! But if needed, you can swap out the sour cream for Greek yogurt!
What Kind Of Pudding Should I Use In These Recipes?
You need to use instant pudding. Cook and serve pudding does not work in the cake or frosting recipes!
Do I Need To Prepare The Pudding Before Adding It In?
Nope! You simply just use the pudding powder mix. So easy, right?
What Can I Use If I Don’t Have A Cupcake Corer?
No worries! You can also carefully remove the centers of the cupcakes by using a small pairing knife and small spoon!
Having a batch of these Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes on hand is perfect for my sweet tooth but dangerous for my waistline! Check out more dangerously delicious cupcake recipes that I think you’ll really enjoy just as much as these ones!
- Chocolate Milkshake Cupcakes – Made with rich chocolate cake and silky chocolate malt buttercream, ready in just 45 minutes!
- White Chocolate Raspberry Champagne Cupcakes – Light and fluffy white chocolate cake filled with raspberry filling and topped with a luscious champagne buttercream frosting!
- Strawberry Chocolate Cupcakes – Uses a boxed cake mix to create tender, chocolaty cupcakes that are covered in sweet strawberry whipped cream frosting!
- Coffee Maple Bacon Cupcakes – Maple-infused vanilla cupcakes loaded with bacon and topped with coffee-flavored whipped cream!
- Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes – Moist, rich chocolate cupcakes dipped in butter, cinnamon, and sugar and then finished off with a whipped chocolate frosting that has cereal pieces in it!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 Box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
- 1 (3.4oz.) box Instant chocolate pudding mix dry
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Filling
- 12 ounces raspberry filling or seedless raspberry preserves
Frosting
- 1 oz. freeze dried raspberries
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup instant vanilla pudding mix dry
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with liners.
- Combine all of the cupcake ingredients in a stand mixer and beat until combined with a whisk attachment.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full, about a scant 1/4 cup of batter.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes until a toothpick comes clean from the center.
- Remove from oven and transfer cupcakes to cooling racks to finish cooling.
- Use a cupcake corer to core the middle of the cupcakes then fill them with the raspberry filling.
- Add freeze dried raspberries to a food processor and blend until a fine dust forms. Set aside.
- Whip the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and pudding mix in a stand mixer or large bowl and whip until soft peaks form.
- Beat in the raspberry powder until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe onto the filled cupcakes.
- Serve immediately for best texture.
Notes
- The filling can be homemade or a store-bought pie or cake filling.
- The frosting does require refrigeration since it’s a whipped cream base.
- The frosting thickens with time and has the best texture immediately after making, but is good for up to 24 hours after making.
- The cupcakes can be prepared in advance and frosted right before serving.
- Greek yogurt may be used instead of sour cream in this recipe.
- Cook and serve pudding does not work in the cake or frosting recipe, you must use instant pudding.
- Make sure to only use the pudding powder mix and not the prepared pudding.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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2nd time making theae cupcakes, they are amazing!!
Is this vanilla raspberry creme frosting enough for a chocolate roll cake or should I double it?
I’m not 100% sure since I’ve never made it for one but I would think so.
For this raspberry creme can I leave out the vanilla pudding all together? I want to just use it as a filling for a cupcake and don’t want it to be too sweet.
It shouldn’t be left out as it’s what stabilizes the frosting.
Nice receipe. I will try to make it today for my birthday party
Enjoy!
The raspberry frosting is amazing! I used it with my own chocolate cupcake recipe and I love the way it turned out. The cream whips up faster with the pudding mix used as a stabilizer. It’s light and sweet with the right amount of tart – definitely making this again.
I’m so glad you loved it!
What is ‘freeze dried’ raspberry, where do I find them? What is vanilla pudding ‘powder’? Is that vanilla pudding?
Hi Sharlene, freeze dried raspberries are raspberries that have been freeze dried through a process you can read about here: http://m.wikihow.com/Freeze-Dry
You can buy freeze dried fruit at Target, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and other, I’m sure.
Yes, it’s vanilla pudding, but just the powder, you do not make the pudding according to the package instructions before adding to the recipe.
Hi Rebecca,
I’m just wondering, how well does the frosting set? I am going to make these cupcakes and then travel with them about 1.5 hours and I’m wondering if the frosting will set well.
It’s a whipped cream based frosting, so it’s not going to crisp up like a buttercream. You want to keep it out of heat as much as possible so it doesn’t break. I’ve transported this frosting several times for about 40 minutes, but I can’t speak to the longer duration in the car.
1-1.5 ounces of raspberry? Doesn’t seem like enough, but I’m going to go with it…
Hi Jennifer,
It’s freeze dried raspberries, so make sure that’s what you use! Enjoy!
Rebecca
How much of the instant pudding mix do you use for the frosting? There is only a square next to cup…
Weird that it’s showing you a square, it’s 1/3 cup.
The frosting recipe does not work. I’ve combined all the ingredients and it looks like raspberry milk, it’s not thick at all. I feel like I wasted a lot of time and money on this project.
Hi Cecilia, It sounds like it just hasn’t been whipped enough. Did you make sure to use a heavy whipping cream? It takes a few minutes (a little longer if you’re using a hand mixer) but it should whip up just like whipping cream but a little more stabilized because of the pudding mix.