Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl. Blend in sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and water. Beat on medium spend until well blended.

Scoop into two 12-count paper cup lined cupcake pans. Bake in a 350 F oven for 18 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set it on a rack. Let cupcakes cool in pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

For the buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and shortening. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Blend in salt and extracts. Add water by the tablespoon as needed. Stir in raspberry puree and continue to mix until your buttercream is smooth and is piping consistency.

Put the buttercream into a piping bag. I used a closed star Ateco 849 tip to frost my cupcakes. Pipe a generous amount of frosting on each cupcake.

Note: To puree raspberries, put 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries in a mesh strainer over a bowl. Gently mash with the back of spoon to break up raspberries. Mash raspberries into small pieces, until you have about ¾ cup.