These high altitude vanilla raspberry cupcakes start with an easy recipe for moist vanilla cupcakes frosted with fluffy raspberry buttercream. To make them festive for Valentine’s Day, I decorated them with the cutest sprinkle mix of pink hearts, gold stars and nonpareils.
You might also love these raspberry oatmeal crumble bars, raspberry vanilla layer cake, and raspberry thumbprint sugar cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Moist for Days. The soft vanilla cupcakes stay tender and moist for days after baking.
Decorate for Any Occasion. With Valentine’s Day coming up in just a few weeks, I decorated my cupcakes with a pretty sprinkle mix. But you can also decorate them with fresh raspberries, or sprinkle them with crushed freeze dried raspberries.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 recipe High Altitude Vanilla Cupcakes. This is an easy cupcake recipe that turns out soft, moist and fluffy. The flavor pairs perfectly with any flavor of buttercream.
Raspberry Buttercream
- Butter. You can use either salted or unsalted butter, but if you use salted, you should omit the extra salt in the recipe.
- Raspberry Jam. The raspberry jam or preserves adds flavor and a natural pink color to the buttercream. There’s no need to find seedless jam, and you won’t even notice the seeds in the buttercream.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Prepare the Vanilla Cupcakes as instructed. Let cool completely before frosting.
- If desired, use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cupcakes, and fill with raspberry jam.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and jam for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium and whip the buttercream for 4-5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl down several times, until very light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for 1 more minute.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes.
- Decorate with sprinkles or fresh raspberries.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store the leftover cupcakes?
Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Can I add fresh raspberries to the cupcake batter?
Fresh berries may sink in the batter, so I’d recommend adding some chopped freeze dried raspberries instead, if you want raspberry flavor in the cupcakes.
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High Altitude Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 recipe High Altitude Vanilla Cupcakes
Raspberry Buttercream
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup raspberry jam
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp meringue powder, optional
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Prepare the Vanilla Cupcakes as instructed. Let cool completely before frosting.
- If desired, use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cupcakes, and fill with raspberry jam.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and jam for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium and whip the buttercream for 4-5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl down several times, until very light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 1 more minute.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes.
- Decorate with sprinkles or fresh raspberries.
Can you tell me the brand of sprinkles you used. Would like to make these for an upcoming bridal shower as pink and gold are the exact color of her bridesmaid dresses.
I actually picked through a few different sprinkle mixes I had on hand to come up with this variety, and I think I bought all of them locally, either at Hobby Lobby, Micheals, or King Soopers.