Decadent chocolate-espresso cupcakes with a sweet surprise inside

Not only am I a chocoholic, but I have a serious addiction to espresso or any coffee in general. While sipping on my mocha espresso, I began to wonder why I have not tried baking with these two amazing flavors. Something about the sweet chocolate with the bitter espresso really got me thinking.

I came up with this easy but oh-so-tasty treat that didn’t take much time at all to prepare. And since I don’t really enjoy baking, I opted for a box cake mix and doctored it up a bit. If you do enjoy baking, then by all means, make your cake batter from scratch.

I also used fresh raspberries to create a filling in my yummy cupcakes. You can easily use strawberries in place of the raspberries; just chop them up into tiny pieces so they break down when cooking.

Chocolate-espresso cupcakes with fresh raspberry filling recipe

Full of chocolaty flavor with just a hint of espresso, these cupcakes get filled with fresh raspberries for one delicious dessert.

Yields 12

Prep time: 15 minutes | Bake time: 20 minutes | Inactive time: 45 minutes | Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• 4 ounces brewed espresso
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For the raspberry filling

• 1 pint fresh raspberries
• 1/4 cup cane sugar

For the topping

• 2 cups prepared whipped chocolate frosting (found in the baking aisle)
• Crushed espresso beans, for garnish
• Fresh raspberries, for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers.
2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the cupcakes, and mix until the batter is smooth and there are no lumps.
3. To a small saucepot, add the raspberries and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cover. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove the raspberry filling from the heat, and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.
5. Fill each cupcake cup with 2 tablespoons of cake batter.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of the fresh raspberry filling to each cupcake cup and then 2 more tablespoons of the cake batter on top, completely covering the raspberry filling.
7. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the cupcakes are completely baked. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 45 minutes.
8. Once cooled, frost each cupcake with a spatula or by using a piping bag.
9. Garnish each cupcake with crushed espresso beans and a fresh raspberry.

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