Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes

 Two of my dear friends from college and I had a weekend at the beach planned for spring break. It just happened to fall on Nancy's birthday, so I wanted to make something extra special for the occasion.

As usual, Pinterest came through for me with this amazing recipe for the cake. The only thing I did differently was I added a little of the raspberry juice from the frosting to the ganache filling.  For the frosting, I used this recipe. I've always been a huge fan of buttercream, but until now I had never tried

 it with the meringue, which I guess is the European style. It gave it a little more body, held up longer and had a more subtle flavor. This was just the perfect amount of sweetness, which didn't overpower the hint of raspberry flavor. I am a convert! 

I decorated the tops by melting some chocolate chips in the microwave and then piping out the shapes. I had a lot of fun with that part, churning out all kinds of crazy shapes with swirls, scribbles and several words. It was very easy and fairly impressive. I am definitely trying that again.