Dark Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Icing

Hello friends! Nice to see you again. It has been a little while. The holiday season was a busy one and work has been hectic so the blog took a bit of a backseat for a while. But, I have a lot of recipes I want to share with you very soon so hopefully, there will be some time for that in the near future.

For now, I have a new cupcake recipe to share with you. I actually originally made these just before the holidays for my mother's birthday. She loves dark chocolate so they were the perfect birthday cupcake. The first batch, though, while tasty, kinda fell apart. So there were some structural issues that needed to be fixed before I could share them with you. With Valentine's Day in the near future, this seemed the appropriate time to share the final recipe. Dark chocolate raspberry is made for Valentine's Day.

And let's be honest, I'm really not a fan of Valentine's Day. The holiday has always seemed pointless to me. Normally, I wouldn't go out of my way to share a new recipe for this holiday unless I had a really good idea come to me. But since I had this one ready to go this year, you get a cupcake recipe appropriate for the holiday.

So, here you go. Why beat around the bush? Dark Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Icing. Make these for Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day, or, just because.

Because they're delicious.

And chocolatey.

And awesome.

Do it.

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~ Ingredients ~

(Makes 12)

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. sugar
½ c. cocoa powder
2 eggs
¾ c. vegetable oil
½ c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
12 Lindt LINDOR Dark Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Icing

2 c. heavy whipping cream
½ c. confectioners sugar
1 package dark chocolate pudding mix
1/3 c. raspberry jam

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~ Directions ~

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate larger bowl, beat together sugar and eggs. Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and beat well. Mix in the cocoa powder. Finally, slowly add the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. Divide batter evenly among the cupcake liners, allowing enough volume to add a truffle without the batter overflowing. Push a truffle into the center of each cupcake until it's completely encased and you can't see the candy.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (you'll need to test toward the side of the cupcake since the gooey candy is inside). Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Suggest moving to the refrigerator to cool. Cold cupcakes are the best for icing.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the icing. In a large bowl, whip together all ingredients until light and fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Once the cupcakes are cooled completely, ice them with a generous amount of icing. Top with any decorations you like. I made some candy harts with a mold and red melting chocolate. You could also use sprinkles or anything else festive.