A fantastic vanilla cupcake paired with raspberry jam and topped with a perfectly pipeable cream cheese frosting. These Raspberry Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are going to blow you away! Don’t miss all my cupcake recipes and desserts!
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
I chose this specific recipe for its simplicity and depth of flavor. If you love vanilla (and I do) this cupcake is the one to make. The texture is similar to that of a muffin, but the flavor is pure vanilla goodness. There are only 7 ingredients in this vanilla cupcake recipe, so you want to make sure you are using the best quality products you can find. I know I reach for my McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract when I want a reliable, consistent, and perfectly formulated vanilla extract!
I recently attended an event hosted by McCormick that was a pure flavor extravaganza. We were allowed to taste test between McCormick vanilla and a leading competitor.
A noticeable difference was the aroma. McCormick’s had a strong Bourbon smell while the competitor almost smelled like plastic. Like Play-Doh!
The color was different… the competitor was murky and cloudy while McCormick’s was purely dark and rich.
Then most importantly, the taste! The competitor was overly sweet and lacked depth. McCormick’s flavor had beautiful vanilla tones that almost tasted carmelized and was perfectly sweet. It was shocking, to say the least!
It’s safe to say that after a day of knowledge I am obsessed with the pure flavor that is McCormick’s Pure Vanilla Extract!
Raspberry Vanilla Cupcakes
When testing this recipe I knew I wanted the vanilla to be the star. To make that happen I needed to come up with a contrasting flavor that complimented the cupcake beautifully, and that was achieved by adding raspberry jam. I chose a seedless jam for the surprise inside filling simply because I love the texture and the idea of each bite melting in your mouth. You could make your own raspberry filling from scratch or opt for a seeded jam if you prefer!
Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting
This cream cheese frosting is sweet. So wonderfully sweet! But it also has undertones of bourbon and vanilla thanks to the addition of the McCormick’s Pure Vanilla Extract.
I also wanted to pipe the frosting, so I added more confectioner’s sugar than I normally would. This made the addition of the extract very important! If you don’t mind a rustic looking cupcake you can add half the amount of sugar to the Cream Cheese Frosting recipe listed below. It will not be pipeable, but it will be delicious.
Raspberry Vanilla Cream Cheese Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup whole milk, room temperature
Filling
- ½ cup seedless raspberry jam
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper baking cups.
- In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer or hand-held mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the egg whites, one at a time, blending well after each one. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and vanilla just until mixed. Add milk as needed. You want the batter to be similar to a pancake batter consistency. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
- Bake until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack.
Filling
- Place jam into a piping bag fitted with a 230 tip. Press tip into the baked and cooled cupcake at least half-way down and apply pressure to the piping bag.
- Slowly start to move tip up and out of the cupcake applying pressure the whole time. Repeat on all cupcakes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla. Mix until creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Place frosting into a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip. Pipe out cream cheese swirls over the cupcakes that have been filled with jam.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Video
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Hey
I love your baking.keep baking and inspiring us.
My question to you for this vanilla cupcake is, can we substitute almond milk with whole milk here?
I don’t have a piping bag, could I layer the jam between the batter then bake?
You can just scoop out some cupcake with a butter knife or spoon.
Please fix to say when to add baking powder. I completely missed it because it wasn’t in the directions- just saying it would have helped!
Hi, Jessica! I work with iambaker and am happy to help. I have updated the instructions to include the baking powder. Thanks for letting us know, and have a wonderful day!
How can I make this buttercream Chocolate ?
Is there a favorite company you use or prefer to order your cupcake liners from? I’ve looked at Papermart and Shop Sweet Lulu but would appreciate others if you use them. Thanks!