#17 Raspberry and Chocolate

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Frequent Commenter and Friend RJ! YAAY BIRTHDAY.

I made these cos I was told Raspberry are her favourites. Also, I'm making only chocolate cupcakes this month and will submit the best one for CH. IMO, these are not the best, but they are RJ's favourite, so maybe I am wrong.

Were I to remake them, I would up the dry ingredients, as I find them much too moist.

Also, the best thing ever happened. Mz. Savage was in my office when I got these IMs:

constructive criticism :P
ok, when it comes to food, and pretty much anything, there needs to be a point
so the emphesis needs to be on something
but not sure where it was on these ones, where was it?

This led to _literally_ a fifteen minute discussion in my office between Ms Savage and Mr. IM about the relative merits of this batch, including some lovely poutine analogies ("Ok, in the poutine, the focus is the gravy. The fries are a vessel - they're like the bread of the cupcake!") and some other hilarious moments. Times like these I wish I had a tape recorder.

I do get the point which was trying to get made - there does need to be a cohesive thing that holds cupcakes together, but I maintain that chocolate, raspberries, and cream is a classic pairing, though perhaps not perfectly executed by me on this. RJ disagrees, and since she's the birthday girl, that's all that matters!




Cupcakes (perfect 24!)

375 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
6 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. ground almonds
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/4 c. cocoa nibs
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda

Simmer raspberries with 1/4 c of sugar and a dash of lemon juice or water until soft. Whizz up in food processor or blender.

Mix ingredients in a bowl in no particular order. Pour into cupcake tin and bake for 30ish minutes at 350C.

Topping:
Mascarpone Cream
Raspberries, and their juice.

This is based on the Clementine Cakes from Nigella which I made earlier this year, but with added cocoa, nibs, and subbing clementines for raspberries. Since raspberries are wetter than clementines, which didn't occur to me when I was making them, I should've used less of that or more dry. Bake and Learn!