Raspberry Cream Cupcakes, Uh, Oh, It's Valentine's Day!

Doset Daram.

Te Amo.

Mahal Kita.

Je T'aime.

"Ah, mon petit chou, it is love at first sight, is it not, no?"

Ah yes, love is in the air, Valentine's Day is this Saturday and men all over America are cursing. A contrived day designed to increase flower, candy, greeting card and restaurant sales. Wanton commercialism wrapped in wanton lust. It's a travesty I say.

But let's face it, left to their own devices, men would rarely, if ever put forth the romantic effort. At least with Valentine's Day they get clear cut signals on what to do: Nice smelling stuff - Flowers, check. Feed Me - Restaurant reservation, check. Have someone else tell me you love me - Valentine's Day card, check.

See, it's all laid out for you.

So who am I to stand in the way of love? Today I give you a recipe that's sure to please the most jaded of hearts. This is a recipe from my some-day-to-be paramour, Giada DeLaurentiis. It's ludicrously simple, so simple even a man could do it, though in truth I leave all the baking to SSSal. So fire up the candles, put on he romantic music and enjoy...


Raspberry Cream Cupcakes
by Giada DeLaurentiis

1 (18.25 oz) box white cake mix (preferrably Duncan Hines)
1 1/3 cups water
3 large egg whites
2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (6 oz.) containers, fresh raspberries (or 6 oz strawberries chopped)
1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 18 muffin cups with muffin papaer.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water ,egg whites, melted butter, almond extract and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes or until batter is well blended.

Using about 1/3 cup of batter for each cupcake, scoop batter into muffin cups.

Bake cupcakes until the are pale golden on top, about 15 minutes.

Cool cupcakes completely on a cooling rack.

Using a fork, coarsely mash 1 1/2 containers of raspberreis in a medium bowl.

Whip the cream and 1/3 cup powdered sugar in a large bowl until form peaks firm. Fold the mashed raspberries, gently, into the whipped cream.

Remove the muffin papers from each cupcake. and cut the top (horizontally) off of each cupcake. Place a spoon on the raspberry whipped cream atop the cupcake bottoms. Return the cupcake tops to the cupcakes, forming a raspberry cream sandwich.

Dust the cupcakes with the remaining powdered sugar. Garnish with remaining berries and serve.


Using a box cake mix makes this recipe ridiculously easy; even a crab could do it. SSSal has made this dessert several times and it never fails to impress.

So crablings, that's your little something for Valentine's Day. A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, a plate of cupcakes and a bowl of extra raspberry whipped cream; I'd go into more details about what happens next, but this isn't that kind of web site. Until next time, remember, you can do it, you can cook.


Crabby Quiz: I opened this post with "I love you" written in four different languages, name each.

Extra Credit: After the four "I love yous", there is a quote in italics, name the speaker.