Mini Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. I have to tell you, I do love Valentine's Day. I'm not a big fan of the jewelry commercial-single red rose-carriage ride in the park type of Valentine's Day, though. I just sort of wish that we could all cover shoe boxes in white paper and decorate our "mailboxes" for a Valentine's party like we did in elementary school (well, that's what I remember doing). When I was little, BaBa would send all of her great-grandchildren a Valentine's card with a two-dollar bill inside. Isn't that cute? I still have a stack of $2 bills inside of a shoe box with her Valentine's cards somewhere in Texas. We would always have a festive breakfast on Valentine's Day, I would always wear a festive outfit, and all-in-all I love what I think of as "pink and red hearts day." My love of Valentine's Day has never been dependent on the presence of a "significant other" in my life; and, thank goodness for that, because Dudley says that Valentine's Day trivializes love. He says:  "Valentine's Day is commercial extortion and emotional piracy." To that end, we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Well, I celebrate it, and because he loves me, he attempts to celebrate Valentine's Day. For Dudley, this means buying the most clichéd gifts you can think of. For example, last year he gave me a Harlequin romance novel and a giant, red "velvet" box of chocolates. Last year I had the flu over Valentine's Day, and ironically enough, I think that Dudley ate most of those chocolates!

 

No matter how you feel about Valentine's Day, though, it's hard to hate a sweet little cupcake, right? I just love these cupcakes because they're pink and red, and in a landscape full of snow, they make me smile. The cupcake is Martha Stewart's yellow buttermilk cupcake recipe. I've had great luck with this recipe, though it makes a huge batch of cupcakes so I usually make 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 of a recipe. The frosting is a raspberry cream cheese frosting. In my opinion, the yellow buttermilk cupcakes are a great base for a stronger flavor, like chocolate, or in this case, raspberry. Now that I think about it, this would be a fun cupcake to top with a swirl of chocolate and a nice raspberry on top, too. I'll have to remember that for next time! In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day to you! And, I'm curious? How do you feel about all of the romance in the air on February 14th? 

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from this recipe by Martha Stewart 

yields enough frosting to generously frost about 36 mini cupcakes 

Ingredients: 

2 sticks unsalted butter

16 oz (1 pound) cream cheese 

1/2 cup of raspberry coulis or seedless raspberry jam

3-4 cups of powdered sugar (you'll need to adjust for your own sweetness preference and consistency)

Directions:
Place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until fluffy. Add the raspberry coulis or preserves and beat until combined. Reduce speed; add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, beat until well combined.

*Raspberry Coulis

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
About 1/2 cup of sugar
About 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring raspberries and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to thicken, about 15 minutes.
2. Press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, using a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard seeds and skins. Stir in 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Taste and add more sugar or lemon juice if you like. Serve coulis warm or at room temperature.


*NOTE:  I made the coulis because I had frozen raspberries in the freezer and I think it gives the frosting a more true and intense raspberry flavor. I cooked my raspberries for about 30 minutes (but I have an ancient electric range, if you're cooking with gas your time will change) to the texture of jam. You don't want this coulis to have too much liquid in it because it water down your finished cream cheese frosting.