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Chocolate Balsamic Rasperry Cupcakes

These cupcakes were inspired by a truffle, found at our local chocolate shop. It’s one of my favorites, and for some time now I’ve been curious as to how it’d fare in cupcake form.

The final result was rich and delicious, with just a hint of tang from the balsamic vinegar. The frosting turned out a bit runny, I was barely able to pipe it (and probably shouldn’t have). Next time I’d probably up the proportion of butter/sugar to raspberry mixture for a thicker consistency. But no matter, runny frosting isn’t going to prevent us from enjoying a truly delicious (and unique!) cupcake.

Chocolate Balsamic Rasperry Cupcakes

We made these the day a few friends were joining us for dinner. Along with a dozen of the Black Pearl cupcakes. Ok, it was probably overkill, but I rarely get to make TWO kinds of cupcakes, a whole two dozen cupcakes, in one day, so I enjoyed every second of it. Makes me wish I had more people I could pawn off my cupcakes to, but most of the time it’s just the two of us. So I only make a half batch, precisely six cupcakes. Because that is all we can eat before they start to dry out. And dry cupcakes are no good, no matter how delicious the cupcake might have been initially. While I’m sure my neighbor and her daughter will never get sick of the random deliveries of excess cupcakes, I don’t bake nearly as much as I’d like to for the sole reason that I hate wasting food. That, and Taylor already has enough cavities for the both of us. More sugar isn’t going to help that. Oh, the perils of baking…

Chocolate Balsamic Raspberry Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes.

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Ingredients:

1 cup soy milk
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons almond meal
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Frosting:
4oz (1/2 cup) fresh raspberries plus 12 rasperries
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar, set aside for 5 minutes (mixture will curdle). Whisk in sugar, oil, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in soy milk mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not over mix).

Pour into liners, filling each with 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be no more than 2/3 full). Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Separate out 12 raspberries for garnish and set aside. Gently toss remaining raspberries with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. Set aside and allow to macerate for 15-20 minutes. Roughly mash berries with a fork until no large chunks remain.

Cream butter until smooth and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and cocoa powder and beat until combined. Mix in raspberry mixture. Continue adding sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition (depending on the temperature of your butter, you may need more or less sugar to achieve the proper consistency). Continue beating until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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