The Best Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes

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The Best Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes are made with a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake base, fresh raspberry butter cream frosting and is perfect for any birthday celebration or a simple summer night!

A vanilla cupcake with pink frosting and a fresh raspberry and fresh mint on top.

A classic vanilla cupcake is a must in your recipe book, but it really has to be a good recipe to make it worth while. Our favorite Chocolate Cupcakes are always easy choice when making a dessert, but there is definitely something to be said about the BEST vanilla cupcake. I have been making vanilla cupcakes for many years and played around with many recipes. This Vanilla Raspberry Cupcake recipe is the BEST! It is light, fluffy, not dry, flavorful and can be combined with any frosting. The key to making this vanilla cupcake the best is the ingredients.

If you want to go classic with this vanilla cupcake recipe, try frosting it with our Vanilla Buttercream Frosting for a traditional vanilla vanilla!

Ingredients

A baking sheet filled with vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting.

The key to the best Vanilla Raspberry Cupcake is the ingredients and it is important not to change a thing. Starting with the combination of butter and vegetable oil will make this cake moist yet have a nice rich butter flavor. While mixing these ingredients together with the egg, beat until it is light and fluffy. This is the start of making this recipe great.

Cake Flour
A vanilla cake made with cake flour is sure to be much more fluffy than a cake made with all purpose flour. Cake flour might not be commonly found in your pantry, but it is totally worth stocking up. Cake flour is a much lighter flour and is finely milled with a lower protein percent. The low protein in cake flour is what creates a very light and fluffy cake. It is worth using and the cake texture will be completely different if you use all purpose flour.

Raspberry Butter Cream Frosting
Homemade Raspberry Butter Cream might be the best frosting you will ever make. It is sweet, smooth and slightly tart from the fresh raspberries. Bring the fresh raspberries and lemon juice to a simmer to create a thick juice that will add so much flavor to your butter cream frosting. Once the fruit has simmered for several minutes, strain the fruit and save the juice. Adding just three tablespoons of juice to the butter cream frosting will add a delicate and pure flavor and the most beautiful hue of pink. Other than the raspberry puree, this is a classic buttercream made with butter, vegetable shortening and powdered sugar. Most buttercream frosting are made with butter and powdered sugar, but I prefer the addition of shortening to add stability.

Step-by-Step Directions

A baking sheet lined with cupcakes and a piping bag filled with pink frosting sitting next to it.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter, vegetable oil and sugar until creamy and light in color ( approximately 2 minutes)
Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla extract and beat until fully combined and smooth
Alternate adding in the flour mixture and the milk until all ingredients are added in and the vanilla cupcake batter is smooth
Beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes to make sure that all ingredients are incorporated
Evenly divide the batter into each cupcake pan filling ¾ full
Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until the cake springs back at the touch
Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before icing with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Raspberry Butter Cream

In a small saucepan combine the raspberries and lemon juice and mash them with a fork to release the juice from the fruit
Bring the raspberries and lemon juice to a simmer and continue cooking for 5 minutes
Remove the saucepan from the heat and strain the fruit to release the liquid
Allow the raspberry juice to cool completely before using
In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and vegetable shortening until creamy
Slowly add the powdered sugar to the butter mixture and beat on medium to high until completely smooth
Add in 3 tablespoons of raspberry juice to the buttercream icing and continue mixing until fully combined
Pipe the frosting on each vanilla cupcake and decorate with sugar crystals and fresh raspberries

Three vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting and sugar crystals.

Tips and FAQS To Make The Best Cupcakes

Room Temperature Ingredients
It is best to use all room temperature ingredients when making cupcakes. The butter will blend better and make sure that all ingredients combine perfect!

Cake Flour
It is very important to use cake flour in this recipe and not to substitute for all purpose flour. If you do not use cake flour the texture of the cupcake will not be as light and fluffy.

Can I freeze the cupcakes?

The vanilla cupcakes are great to freeze, but it is best to freeze them with no frosting. Allow them to sit out at room temperature to defrost before frosting when you are ready to use.

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