Chocolate Raspberry Kisses

If there's a day that calls for chocolate, it's Valentine's Day. Victoria Abbott shared two chocolate recipes on Saturday, so if this one doesn't strike your fancy, scroll back a little.

Naturally, with a book called The Diva Frosts a Cupcake coming out in June, I'm still baking cupcakes every chance I get. This time, I made tiny little kiss size cupcakes to feed to your sweetheart. Instead of a big fluffy frosting, I used a decadent chocolate glaze. Every kiss needs a little pizzazz, right? There's a teeny bit of liqueur in a buttercream underneath that glaze. I used Chambord, a raspberry liqueur, but you can use your favorite, Grand Marnier or Amaretto would work just as well. And you don't have to buy a big bottle (well, that's up to you!). The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons and the cute little airline size bottles contain about 4 tablespoons.

Although this recipe requires three steps, don't despair. It can be made ahead of time. Plus, the steps are really very easy. The cupcake recipe makes 24 regular cupcakes or 48 mini-cupcakes. That's a lot of cupcakes! I baked 12 regular cupcake and 24 minis but only completed a few. The rest are going into my freezer so I can pull them out when I need a dessert in a pinch. I can frost them any way I like then.

Note that regular cupcake liners should be filled only about 1/2 full, while the minis should be filled almost to the top. The minis will rise more, but we want the top to be a little bit bigger for ease of dipping it in the chocolate.

Chocolate Raspberry Kisses

(Makes 24 regular cupcakes or 48 minis)

Cupcakes
1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder in a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a fork. Set aside.

Cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in each egg, mixing thoroughly. Add part of the cocoa mixture, alternating with the milk. Add the vanilla and mix.

Fill regular cupcake liners about half full. Fill mini-cupcake liners just below the top.

Bake regular cupcakes for 16 minutes. Bake mini-cupcakes for 15 minutes.

Buttercream
(double recipe for entire batch)
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons Chambord or other liqueur

Beat all the ingredients until smooth.

Spread a light layer across the top of each cooled cupcake.

Chocolate Glaze
(double recipe or make twice to glaze entire batch)
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoon butter

Place the chocolate chips and the cream in a microwave safe container.

 

I like to use a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup. Microwave about 40-50 seconds. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in butter.

Dip the top of each cupcake into the chocolate. Garnish with a fresh raspberry while the chocolate is still warm.

And a big ol' Valentine kiss to each of you!