Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Raspberries and Lilikoi Butter Filling

When you taste these wonderful treats, you won’t know whether you are at your normal seat or whether you have been transported to the tropics with these delightful cupcakes. Some people think that vanilla means plain; well, that’s not the case with these sweet babies and their tropical tantalization. The purity of vanilla matched with fresh raspberries for that sweet and tart taste is finished with the perfection of lilikoi butter filling.

Each bite will feel like tropical flavors are dancing on your taste buds. Lilikoi is the Hawaiian word for passion fruit and you will simply love the flavor that this filling adds to these treats. These are not your regular bake sale desserts. They are a treat that you will enjoy from the moment you start baking them to the moment when you eat the very last crumb and lick your fingers. Now, if you want to create them for bake sales or some other event, be forewarned that you will sell out quickly and people will be demanding that you make more. Verbena’s Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Raspberries and Lilikoi Butter Filling are pure happiness in cupcake form.

Make someone happy and try this simple but delicious recipe today.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Raspberries and Lilikoi Butter Filling

INGREDIENTS:

1 organic vanilla gluten-free cake mix. (Namaste Foods Organic Yellow Cake Mix Gluten Free is the one that I tested and loved the most. I found a big diﬀerence between the organic mix versus the non-organic mix by the same company. The organic version won out by big margins.)
2 organic eggs
1/3 cup melted organic butter
1/2 cup organic milk
3 drops lemon essential oil
Grated peel of 1 organic lemon (grate only the yellow oﬀ the lemon, not the white part of the rind)
Fresh raspberries (3 per cupcake)

FILLING:

Passion Butter (it is like Lemon Butter but with passion fruit)

GARNISH:

Extra raspberries
Mint leaf

DIRECTIONS:

I always start by prepping all the ingredients. So, grab all the ingredients, clean the raspberries, and grate the lemon rind. Take out 2 eggs, 1/3 cup butter, and 1/2 cup milk from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you start to bake. You should always start with room-temperature ingredients when baking.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grab your stainless steel cupcake tin and natural bleach-free cupcake liners. (Who wants to bake bleach into their food?)
Melt butter at a low temperature. You don’t want it too hot when you’re adding it to the rest of the ingredients; otherwise, you could end up with cooked scrambled eggs.
Add the melted butter, milk (before the eggs), and eggs to your mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for 15 seconds.
Add the cake mix and blend for 30 seconds on low. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
Add grated lemon rind and 3 drops of lemon essential oil. Blend for another 30 seconds.
Pour the batter into the cupcake tin lined with paper baking cups (I like to scoop it in with a 1/3 cup measuring cup and fill them 2/3 full). For me, the best part is the crusty top. The more top, the merrier.
Drop 3 raspberries into each cupcake batter. Don’t push down; just leave them on top.
Bake at 350°F for 18-21 minutes or until the cake pick comes out clean. Remember to test your oven temperature regularly. Once every other month is good.How do you test your oven? I get this question a lot. Buy a cheap oven thermometer from your neighborhood grocery store and place it in the oven. If you are setting the oven for 350°F (or whatever temperature), you want to check that the thermometer reads the same temperature 10-12 minutes after you turn on the oven.
Remove cupcakes and let cool for 30 minutes.

FILLING: Fill a pastry bag (a must for every kitchen) 1/2 full with passion butter and push the tip into the top center of the cupcake. Squeeze about 1 tablespoon into each cupcake. Delicious! 😋

I do not eat gluten-free but this is my go-to recipe for potlucks. There are always those friends who are gluten-free, and this recipe is always a big hit with everyone.

Refrigerate the uneaten cupcakes (if any are left).

Enjoy!

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