The recipe for these oh, so yummy berry and cream cupcakes is a combo of Martha Stewart's chocolate buttermilk cupcakes and a recipe from Cupcakes Year-Round 50 Recipes for Every Season and Celebration by Sara Newmeier with my variation using raspberries instead of cherries. I used M.S.'s chocolate cake recipe because Sara N.'s used a whole stick of butter instead of 3 tbsp. Aesthetically, a cupcake that produces a rounded, more cone-shaped top, to slice and place on top, would be ideal. This chocolate buttermilk cupcake recipe's downfall is that it has a mostly flat top. It is my go-to never fail recipe that turns out consistently light, though, so I went with it.
To make the raspberry topping, press a 10 oz. package of thawed (or heated until thawed)raspberries through a fine sieve to remove seeds to yield 3/4-1 cup puree. Heat in a saucepan with 3 tbsp sugar. Mix 2-3 tsp cornstarch with a little of the puree in a small bowl then add to saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or so until thickened. Refrigerate to cool. I created a "well" for whipping cream by removing, all in one piece, a scoop of cake along with the cupcake's "cap" leaving a border around the edge to prevent raw jagged knife-cut edges from showing. You don't need to carve a well. I just wanted to bite into more whipping cream. Beat 1 cup heavy whipping cream, gradually adding 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until soft peaks form. Place two fresh raspberries in well of cupcake (or on top if you didn't cut a well). Top with a dollop of whipping cream then a drizzle of raspberry syrup. Finally, place cupcake cap on top and sift powdered sugar over it. Place 1 or 3 fresh raspberries on the plate. (I like to use odd numbers for garnish.) Note: Don't let not having fresh raspberries to put underneath the whipping cream and on the plate deter you. I didn't have any, but I am dreaming of July through September when I will be picking them straight from the bush at my favorite berry farm south of Brainerd.
Feb. 5, 2009
Today's mileage: 3 mile walk in the brisker-than-yesterday outdoors (I logged an add'l mile compared to previous days because I was listening to some especially good tunes.)
Total monthly mileage: 11 miles
Bible reading? Absolutely.
Whiteley Creek Homestead 
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