White chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling frosted with smooth and creamy white chocolate cream cheese buttercream. Rich, luxurious and so good.
(Looking for other cupcake recipes? Check out this collection of unique cupcake recipes for birthdays, baby showers, weddings, Christmas and more.)
Technically, white chocolate isn’t really chocolate because it doesn’t have cocoa in it. But for white chocolate fans like us, that doesn’t really matter, right? White chocolate is delicious.
I love baking with white chocolate. And these white chocolate and raspberry jam cupcakes are one of my favourites.
They look festive, romantic, dainty. The raspberry filling complements the white chocolate so well. And they’re fun and easy to make.
Let’s get to it.
Why you’ll love this recipe
You’ll love making these white chocolate cupcakes because:
- Raspberry and white chocolates go so well together. Raspberries and white chocolates are so good together. Their flavour profile complement each other so well. Not a fan of raspberries? You can pick any jam you prefer, just make sure not to pick a jam that’s too sweet because the white chocolate is sweet enough.
- Stable cream cheese frosting. Unlike other cream cheese based buttercream, frosting or icing, this one is stable and holds up well. It won’t melt on you and will look pretty hours after you’ve piped it on your cupcakes.
- Perfect for celebrations. Which make these cupcakes perfect for celebrations like baby showers and bridal showers, Easter, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. They look the part too!
- Easy to make. Best of all, these raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes are easy to make and fun to decorate. Make a day of it with the girls!
What you’ll need
To make white chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling, you’ll need to make the cupcakes first and while they’re cooling, make the white chocolate buttercream.
Ingredient notes
For the white chocolate cupcakes, you’ll need:
- Cake flour — cake flour leads to a more tender and delicate texture in baked goods
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Milk — I use 2% skim milk
- Vanilla extract — mix it in with the milk
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs
- White chocolate — I use baking chocolate, like this
- Raspberry or other jam for filling — I use Bonne Maman raspberry jam. It’s sweet and tart, perfect for this recipe
And for the white chocolate frosting, you’ll need:
- Cream cheese — you’ll need a block of cream cheese and not cream cheese spread (more on this below)
- Unsalted butter
- Confectioner’s sugar — also sometimes called icing sugar or powdered sugar
- White chocolate — same chocolate I use for the cupcakes
- Vanilla extract
Baking tools
As far as tools go, you’ll need:
- A 12-cavity cupcake pan
- Cupcake liners
- Handheld electric mixer or stand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
I like using my cookie scoop to transfer the cupcake batter to the cupcake cups and large star tips when decorating cupcakes, like the Wilton 1M (more decorating tips below).
How to make – cupcakes
1 PREP. Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2 WHISK. In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3 CREAM. Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and creamy (about 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed).
4 EGGS. Add the eggs one at a time ensuring each addition is well incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl as needed.
5 CHOCOLATE. Add the melted white chocolate and stir.
6 DRY INGREDIENTS. Switch to low speed and add a third of your flour mixture, half of your milk mixture, another third of your flour, the rest of your milk and finally the rest of your flour — beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and no noticeable lumps of flour remain.
7 TRANSFER. Transfer your batter into each cupcake liner until they are almost full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a few cupcakes comes out with minimal crumbs. Cool in the pan slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
8 FILL AND DECORATE. To fill the cupcakes, you can use a Bismarck tip or simply carve a small hole in the middle of your cupcakes about an inch in diameter and spoon a dollop of jam in it (more on this below). Top with frosting and decorate as desired.
How to make – white chocolate frosting
1 BEAT. Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until pale and incorporated.
2 SUGAR. Add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time beating well after each addition.
3 CHOCOLATE. Add the melted white chocolate and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well incorporated and your frosting is smooth and creamy.
Expert baking tips
Best kind of cupcake cups to use
I know how frustrating it is to start off with bright coloured cupcake liners only to find them either faded or discoloured after baking.
Which is why I’ve since switched to only using grease-proof or glassine cupcake cups. They keep their colour better with very little oil soaking through.
Parchment paper cups work well too.
Best way to fill cupcakes
There are two ways you can put raspberry jam into these white chocolate cupcakes:
- Bismarck tip. You can use a Bismarck tip (I have the one from Ateco) that’s made specifically for filling and injecting pastries and baked goods with mousse, chocolate, cream or, in this case, jam. The tip is wide enough for the jam to flow through but narrow enough so that when inserted, it just leaves a very small mark on the cupcake.
- Small knife. You can also just use a small, sharp knife to carve a small hole in the middle of your cupcake about an inch in diameter, remove that, then spoon the jam in there. You can put the small piece of cupcake back as some kind of lid, but you don’t have to because that hole will be covered in frosting later.
Personally, when filling these cupcakes, I prefer using a knife over a Bismarck tip. I find it easier and I like seeing exactly how much jam I put in each cupcake.
Use cold cream cheese
Cream cheese frosting has a tendency to be runny. Happily, this white chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe is stable and holds its shape.
The secret: use cold cream cheese. Cut your cream cheese into portions so it’s easier to incorporate with the butter.
Also, keep the frosting in the fridge if you’re not ready to use it.
Cupcake decorating ideas
Decorating cakes and cupcakes is one of my favourite things to do as a baker. I have a collection of decorating tips that I use and large tips work especially well in cupcakes.
You don’t have to invest in decorating supplies if you don’t bake that often though. You can use a large Ziploc bag, cut one of the corners off, and use that as your piping bag.
Or you can just scoop the frosting on top of the cupcakes and smoothen out the top.
With these raspberry white chocolate cupcakes, I usually sprinkle bits of white chocolate or white chocolate chips on top of the frosted cupcakes.
Different coloured sprinkles will work too. Maybe red and green for Christmas, red for Valentine’s Day, pastel for Easter.
Topping the cupcakes with fresh raspberries is a nice touch and drizzling the cupcakes with homemade raspberry sauce will also be delicious.
Recipe FAQs
I’ve always used cake flour in this recipe but substituting that with all-purpose flour is easy. Note that it’s not a 1:1 straight substitution though. Here’s a good read on how to do it.
I personally wouldn’t recommend using cream cheese spread when making cream cheese frosting because it would lead to a very runny buttercream.
I would also suggest sticking to full-fat cream cheese for the smoothest and the creamiest consistency.
Raspberry filled cupcakes are best eaten the day they are made. If you have leftovers, place them in a covered container and keep them refrigerated.
Freshly baked, these cupcakes are delightfully moist and tender. Once chilled, they tend to acquire a very fudgy consistency. And the longer they sit in the fridge, the harder they get. Best to consume them within 3 days.
It’s best to serve white chocolate raspberry cupcakes at room temperature. They’re great with coffee or tea!
Other white chocolate and raspberry recipes
Looking for other recipes that incorporate white chocolate and raspberries? Check these out.
- Raspberry white chocolate overnight oats — the perfect make-ahead breakfast for mornings when you need to get up and get going in a hurry.
- No-bake raspberry white chocolate tart — has a chocolate cookie crust, white chocolate mascarpone filling and fresh raspberry topping. So good!
- Raspberry white chocolate cookies — tender, chewy and easy to make.
White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling
Ingredients
For the White Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 ½ cups sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract add to milk and stir
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 pcs large eggs room temperature
- 5 ounces white chocolate melted and allowed to cool to room temperature
- Raspberry jam for filling
For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 8-oz block cream cheese cold and cut into 4 portions
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 4 ounces white chocolate melted and allowed to cool to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the White Chocolate Cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners (this recipe yields 12 cupcakes).
- In a medium bowl, whisk 1 ½ cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat ¼ cup butter and ⅔ cup sugar until the mixture is pale and creamy (about 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed).
- Add the eggs one at a time ensuring each addition is well incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl as needed.
- Add the melted white chocolate and stir.
- Switch to low speed and add a third of your flour mixture, half of your milk mixture, another third of your flour, the rest of your milk and finally the rest of your flour – beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and no noticeable lumps of flour remain.
- Transfer your batter into each cupcake liner until they are almost full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a few cupcakes comes out with minimal crumbs
- Cool in the pan slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To fill the cupcakes, you can use a Bismarck tip or simply carve a small hole in the middle of your cupcakes about an inch in diameter and spoon a dollop of jam in it (see post for tips on how to fill cupcakes).
- Top with frosting (recipe follows) and decorate as desired.
For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat your cream cheese portions and ¼ cup butter on medium-high speed until incorporated.
- Add a cup of confectioner’s sugar a little at a time beating well after each addition.
- Add the melted white chocolate and 1 teaspoon vanilla and continue to beat until well incorporated and your frosting is smooth and creamy.
Video
Notes
- Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before filling and frosting.
- Keep frosting in the fridge if you’re not ready to use it yet.
- See post for storage instructions, more baking tips and FAQs.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Happy baking!
Did you make white chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
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Lisa Scala
Just made them easier then I thought and came out great!!!
Jolina
That’s awesome Lisa! 🙂
Suellen
I followed the instructions to the letter. I filled the cups almost full as directed and they overflowed. The taste and consistency were wonderful. The icing however never formed up. I used cold cream cheese and even a little more sugar. I could not pipe the icing so I spread it over the cupcakes. Over all they tasted great but they were not as pretty as I would have liked. I made these for friends for valentines day and the additional sprinkles and toppers hid the not so pretty icing. I will make them again and only fill the cups 3/4 full. I will also use my go to icing recipe.
Jolina
Hi Suellen, thanks for trying the recipe! Sad to hear it didn’t work for you 100%. Happy to hear you made it work 🙂
Morgan
I followed the recipe to a T. The batter was very thin which was a lot different from other cupcake batters I’ve used. The taste was great as far as that goes but the cupcakes were extremely dense, heavy, and chewy. Not enjoyable. I know I did not over mix my batter either. I did not make the other parts of this recipe as I used my own recipe for frosting and filling.
Jolina
Hi Morgan, the batter is thinner than usual (as you can see in the photos). This recipe has always worked me thanks for trying it though. Hope you can find the perfect cupcake recipe for you!
Amalia
I made these last week and they were so delicious! My mom makes homemade raspberry jam and that’s what I used. Thanks for the recipe.
Jolina
You’re welcome Amalia! Glad you liked them.
Darcy
This recipe sounds great, but 1 tablespoon vanilla seems excessive. Is that supposed to be 1 teaspoon?
Jolina
Hi Darcy you’re right it’s supposed to be 1 teaspoon. I’ve updated the recipe. Thanks for letting me know!
Tyane
I’m a fan of cupcakes. These looks amazing! Sound like a perfect trial for Valentine’s Day 🙂
Meghan Capps
I love anything jam filled anything! These look yummy and I can’t wait to try them.
Saidah Washington
These are my two favorite flavors. There’s an ice cream inlove that combines these two flavors and now I’m craving it and these cupcakes. Yum!
Jolina
I gotta hunt that ice cream down LOL! Have a great week Saidah!
Sarah Harris
Mmmm… I’ve always loved the taste of chocolate and raspberry but never thought of white chocolate cupcakes before – this sounds like a whole new level of amazing!
Ana De- Jesus
White chocolate cupcakes? OOh now I am in heaven this looks so good. You always have the best cake recipes I swear!
Melanie
Yum. My girls are both having birthdays soon so I might have to make these!
Jolina
Nice! A most wonderful birthday to your girls!