Raspberry-Filled 4th of July Cupcakes

These Raspberry-Filled 4th of July Cupcakes have moist red velvet cake, raspberry jelly filling and cream cheese frosting that will dazzle everyone at your 4th of July party or barbecue with their colorful and tasty presentation.

Cupcakes are definitely my favorite, they’re easy, super versatile, and not to mention super fun to decorate. Fourth of July cupcakes rank up there with the most fun to design. This year, I wanted to do something a little different and put a little surprise in the center. The fresh raspberry jelly in the middle gives it an extra bit of summer flare, don’t you think? It’s a perfect dessert for 4th of July.

» You might also like these Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes and Festive 4th of July Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Red velvet cake mix – You could make one from scratch but this is so much easier.
• Raspberry jam – Fresh raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, and water.
• Cream cheese frosting – Cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.

For these cupcakes, we use a red velvet boxed cake mix. You can make your own by using this recipe, if you wish. I really like the Betty Crocker Red Velvet Cake mix, so I always just make that. It’s super simple and all you need to add is eggs, oil and water.

I do prefer to make my own fresh raspberry filling. You’ll find the recipe below. It’s also easy to make, with just fresh raspberries, sugar and corn starch. However, you can use a store-bought raspberry jam, if you wish.

Finally, you’ll need a frosting bag and tip. I use the star tip. As you can see, I’m not a pro at icing cupcakes. I think that’s a good thing though. Anyone can make these cupcakes, even with no knowledge of cake decorating.

Helpful Tips

• You can use store-bought jam and frosting, if you want. Raspberry or strawberry jam.
• You can use store-bought frosting, if you wish. Cream cheese frosting is best, so the cupcakes don’t get too sweet.
• You can use a white cake mix instead of red velvet, if you want.
• If you use frozen raspberries instead of fresh, it will take longer to cook them down and remove all the water content before the right consistency is reached. If the mixture is still a bit runny or watery, cook it down longer.

Can I Use Frozen Raspberries?

You can use frozen raspberries, but fresh berries turns out so much better. Frozen raspberries have a lot of extra water that has to be cooked off, so it will take quite a bit longer to cook the raspberries down to the right consistency. Don’t take them off too soon, or the jam won’t be firm enough.

Decorating the Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes are cool, you need to make a small well in the middle where you’ll put the raspberry filling. If you have a cupcake corer, that’s the best – most professional looking – way to add a well to the cupcake. If you’re a perfectionist like me, this tool is a great investment. However, if you don’t have one, you can use a small spoon or a paring knife to carve out a small well.

Fill the well of each cupcake with the cooled raspberry jelly. It takes about 1 teaspoon of jelly for each cupcake. And there’s no need to cover the top of the jelly. You’re going to frost right over it.

When they’re all filled, you can go ahead and frost them. Take your piping bag, add in whatever tip you’d like – I used a Wilton star tip.

Finalize the decoration with blue sprinkles or stars, if you want, then top it with a raspberry and/or blueberry. I like to alternate berries.

Can I Make These Cupcakes Ahead?

These cupcakes can be a bit of work, because there are three components to them. But you can make them ahead of time, if you want to. They’ll last for a day before drying out.

It’s actually best, if you need to make these ahead, to split up the work a bit. You can make the separate components a day or two ahead, and then do the filling and icing on the day you’ll serve them. This will give you the most fresh cupcakes. I wouldn’t recommend making the cupcakes too far ahead of time as they will dry out and be less moist.

It’s not really possible to freeze and store these cupcakes. The center filling will freeze and then become watery when it defrosts, making the cupcake soggy.

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