Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Prepare cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper cup liners in cupcake pans.

Place finely chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot coffee over it. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plastic and stir until smooth.

Sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.

In the bowl of your mixing stand, beat eggs for a few minutes until they become pale yellow. Beat in oil, buttermilk, and raspberry extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly add the melted chocolate. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Pour batter into the lined cups, about 3/4 way full.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cooling racks.

Prepare raspberry filling:

Place all of the filling ingredients in a medium-sized, heavy saucepan. Simmer on medium-low until berries have broken down and the sauce has thickened, approximately 10–15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. (If you don’t want seeds in your filling, puree the raspberries in a blender and strain the puree before cooking.)

Prepare the chocolate ganache:

Place chocolate pieces in a large, heat proof bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour the cream over the chocolate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove the plastic, add extract and stir until smooth and glossy. Allow ganache to cool completely before frosting. (If you wish to have a fluffier “whipped” frosting, allow ganache to cool completely before transferring to a stand mixer. On medium-high speed, whip until you reach the desired consistency.)

Assemble cupcakes:

Once all items have been prepared, fill a piping bag with a small round tip with the raspberry filling. Fill another piping bag with the ganache. Taking one cupcake, place the tip of the raspberry filled bag into the top of the cake and squeeze in a few teaspoons of the filling inside of the cupcake. Be careful not to “inject” too much or your cupcakes will implode. Finally, with the piping bag filled with ganache, pipe/decorate swirls on top of the cupcake. Garnish with fresh raspberries.