Alpha Bakers -- White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Cherry Buttercream

 I'm still perfecting my cupcake spin. That quick twist of the wrist, properly executed, will make your cupcake frosting look both rustic and adorable, a la Magnolia Bakery or their offshoots (my favorite without a doubt is Sugar Sweet Sunshine on the Lower East Side). To be sure, piping is the more secure way to make sure your cupcakes look pretty, but sometimes I want to be rustically brilliant (and sometimes I'm concerned that cherry chunks will get caught in the piping tip).

Those of you who know me will be surprised to hear how small the volume of my recent stress baking has been, post-election. I've been diverting more of my time into panicking, laundry, phone calls to elected officials, and more panicking, with a side of writing things on the chalkboard at work. I did make a batch of brownies, but cleverly left out the flour (they were weirdly delicious).

I decided, though, with only three recipes left in the Baking Bible bake through, that it was time to get back to some precision baking, so I made these white chocolate cupcakes with mousseline buttercream. The cupcakes are soft, egg white stabilized cake with four ounces of white chocolate melted in, and the frosting is a simple mousseline buttercream (sugar syrup, meringue, butter) with raspberry flavoring and a touch of fancy cherry jam. The spin, well, it's not perfect, but it looks rustic, right?