Rassberry-Vannilla Cupcakes

Who doesn't like a cupcake? When sadness overtakes you a cupcake can comfort. A cupcake can restore your sense of wellness in the world.  My darling daughter just participated in the school wide spelling bee and much to her disappointment she misspelled "vanilla." Poor dear, she didn't even study that word because she knows how to spell it! It was a mistake, a mistake I tell you! I feel her pain. See, when I was in fifth grade I was in a spelling bee and misspelled "raspberry." In honor of "making lemonade out of lemons" we bring you Rassberry-Vannilla cupcakes . . .

Do you remember jello dream cake from the 70's? This is the same recipe only in cupcake form! In addition to the standard pantry staples you'll need some of the following items . . .

Could you make a white cake from scratch? Of course. Could you crush raspberries, strain the juice and gelatinize it yourself? Of course. But when you're in mourning you don't have the oomph to do these things. I need my cupcakes NOW!

Prepare your cake batter according to the package instructions. We chose a white cake mix that required all sorts of difficult steps such as . . .

. . . separating eggs.  The only purpose of that is to let the cake be as "white" as possible. Normally I just skip this step and add two whole eggs rather than 3 egg whites but I thought darling daughter would enjoy the challenge. She did.

The girl should be a hand model. Those hands are so beautiful I just want to grab 'em and kiss 'em. Except they're covered in raw egg, yuck. Make sure to wash your hands afterward! 

Get your pans ready!

I like to use the little papers.  My cupcake pans were my grandmother's pans.  They're made out of actual tin. The things bend! The point is that since they were made in oh say 1925 they're not quite "standard." They're a little shallow.  So papers really help out. If you just want to spray your pans and produce "nude" cupcakes go ahead.

Our cake mix made 24 normal size cupcakes.  After you're done with your batter. Distribute it amongst your pans. Then throw them in your preheated oven! You DID preheat your oven didn't you? It's the FIRST instruction on all cake recipes ya know! There's a reason for that! A good 10 or 15 minute preheat sets you up for success in baking.  Seriously, I hope you preheated that oven . . .

Beautiful cupcakes! Let them cool completely and then stick them back in the pan. Seriously, stick them back in the pan.  You've got to be prepared for the next steps and they are a little messy . . .

You want to punch about five holes in each cupcake using a chopstick or something shaped like that.  This is very therapeutic.  Ally was very vigorous in her punching. There may be a few holes at the bottom of the cupcake papers . . .

Add 1 cup of boiling water to the jello powder. Stir it until the gelatin has dissolved. Now take a spoon . . .

. . . and gently spoon the mixture onto the cupcakes.  A little for each until it's all gone.

What's that you say? Why is there a Costco ad under the cupcakes? Why don't I clean off my counters before I take pictures? I'm just keepin' it real . . .

When you have them all soaked with the sweet and sour goodness of liquid raspberriness cover them with some plastic wrap and put them in your refrigerator.  I like to leave those drips on the pan so I can judge when the gelatin is firm. This takes an hour or two. It's a good opportunity to stuff your face with some pizza, take a shower, watch American Idol etc. etc.

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there will be no posting of refrigerator pictures on this blog. My refrigerator is a very private, very messy place and I don't like to share it with others.  Thank you for respecting my privacy . . .

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

Lets make frosting! We're going to make a nice whipped cream frosting. We're going to use a trick I heard about and haven't ever tried before! We'll take 1/2 a cup of mini-marshmallows and add . . .

. . . a cup of heavy whipping cream to it! See marshmallows have gelatin and sugar in them. The sugar gives an almost imperceptible sweetness to the cream and the gelatin adds stability! So you can whip up this whipped cream and use it later! I just checked my whipped cream and it's still all whippy looking 20 hours later!  So if you're having a nice little party and want fresh whipped cream on something you can make it before your guests arrive! Before you're in you're nice blouse that doesn't look good with whipped cream on it.  You won't be getting out loud kitchen equipment in the middle of after dinner conversation!  This stuff has none of the sweetness of canned whipped cream or the frozen stuff either. They'll TASTE the difference.  Original "Dream Cake" had cool whip on it but I've been wanting to try this trick out and we all know you taste the frosting first! 

We added a little vanilla to the frosting just to make sure we had good vanilla flavor throughout--these are Rassberry-Vannilla Cupcakes after all!  Let the cream and marshmallow mixture sit covered in the fridge for about an hour. By this time your gelatin should be set in the cake and the marshmallows should have started to dissolve into the cream.  We had to move the cream to a bigger bowl . . .

Beat on high speed just until it starts to hold it's shape. Then spread a spoonful on a cupcake and garnish with a raspberry.

Here it is! All unwrapped! notice how the gelatin has went down in stripes? It soaked right into those holes you poked in the cake.  Then it spread out from there! So when you cut into it . . .

Beautiful stripes o' flavor!  This cake is light and moist. The gelatin adds a sweet, sour, moistness to plain old boxed cake mix.  The whipped cream is lovely, light, and dare I say "creamy"? Who wouldn't feel better after one of these?

Rassberry-Vannilla Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix, prepared according to package instructions

1 3 oz. box of raspberry gelatin, dissolved into 1 cup of boiling water

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup heavy whipping cream

fresh raspberries for garnish.

Prepare the cup cakes according to package instructions and allow to cool.  Poke 5 holes in each cupcake.  Distribute liquid gelatin over all the cupcakes.  Cover and chill. Mix marshmallows, cream, and vanilla in a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate.  When ready to serve, whip the cream and spread it on the cupcakes. Garnish with a raspberry.