If you've got a jar of sourdough discard going spare and a punnet of raspberries about to turn, these sourdough raspberry cupcakes are exactly what both of them are for. Expect a properly moist, tender crumb with distinct pockets of raspberry and white chocolate, not a pink smear through the batter, finished with a white chocolate cream cheese icing instead of the usual buttercream. The base comes from our Sourdough Cranberry Orange Muffins, with the orange dropped for raspberry and white chocolate instead.
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Most raspberry cupcake recipes fall down on one point: fresh fruit versus frozen. Get it wrong and you end up with a soggy middle and fruit that's sunk straight to the bottom, no matter how careful you were with everything else. This one doesn't, because the fix (a quick freeze on fresh raspberries, never fruit frozen for storage) is tested and built in below. Try our buttery Sourdough Discard Raspberry White Chocolate Loaf Cake and Sourdough White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies too.
Recipe Highlights
TASTE: Tangy sourdough crumb, sweet white chocolate, sharp bursts of raspberry
TEXTURE: Moist and tender for days, not just on bake day
TOP TIP: Freeze fresh raspberries for 20 minutes, then toss the raspberries and chocolate chips in flour to stop them sinking to the bottom
SEB'S RATING: Loves the icing just as much as the base!
Why Sourdough Discard in Cupcakes?
Sourdough discard doesn't do any leavening here, baking powder and baking soda handle that. What discard brings is acidity, and acidity works on a cake batter the same way buttermilk does: it tenderises the gluten and helps the crumb hold onto moisture for longer.
That's genuinely useful in a fruit-and-chocolate cupcake like this one, where a dry crumb makes the raspberries taste even more watery by comparison. It's also just a good way to use up discard without committing to a long ferment. If you want more ideas, Sourdough Discard Recipes has my full collection.
Ingredient Notes
These are simple ingredients, but a few are worth flagging before you start (find full quantities in the recipe card below).
- Plain flour (all-purpose flour): standard plain flour gives the right structure here. No need for self-raising, the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda already do that job.
- Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda: both are doing real work. Baking powder gives the main lift, and the bicarbonate of soda reacts with the acidity in the discard for a slightly finer crumb.
- Vegetable or sunflower oil: oil-based batters stay moist for longer than butter-based ones, because oil stays liquid at fridge temperature while butter firms up and dries the crumb out.
- Sourdough discard: unfed starter, 100% hydration. You can use active sourdough starter if that's what you have. See our Sourdough Vanilla Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting for more on using discard in same-day bakes like this one, where there's no long fermentation to worry about.
- Whole milk: gives the best flavour and moisture. A dairy-free milk works too, the crumb will just be very slightly less rich.
- Vanilla extract: use a good pure vanilla extract rather than vanilla flavouring, it makes more of a difference than you'd think in a simple batter like this.
RASPBERRIES. This is the one to get right. Raspberries that have been frozen for storage and thawed are too wet: they'll bleed heavily into the batter and leave you with soggy pink streaks and a cupcake that doesn't set properly in the middle. Don't use them here, no matter how convenient the freezer bag looks.
Instead, take fresh raspberries and freeze them for 15 to 20 minutes, just before folding them into the batter. That's the whole trick. A short freeze firms the fruit enough to stop it sinking and bleeding, without the sogginess that comes from fruit that's been frozen and thawed for storage. It's a small step, but it's the difference between clean, distinct pockets of raspberry and a cupcake that looks tie-dyed.
White chocolate chips: go into the flour mixture alongside the raspberries and get tossed together for the same reason, so the flour gives both the fruit and the chips something to grip onto instead of sinking straight to the bottom of the liner.
For the icing: cold cream cheese and softened butter, not both at room temperature. Beating softened butter first, then adding cold cream cheese, keeps the icing thick enough to hold its shape once piped. If both are soft, the icing turns loose and struggles to hold a swirl. Want a different topping instead? Our Biscoff Cream Cheese Frosting pipes just as well over these.
Freeze-dried raspberries are for the topping only, not the batter. Fresh raspberries scattered on top would add more moisture right when you don't want it; freeze-dried ones give the same sharp raspberry flavour and colour without it.
Step-By-Step Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly grease or line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a separate small bowl, toss the raspberries and white chocolate chips in a tablespoon of flour, this keeps them from sinking straight to the bottom of the batter.
4. In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla extract until combined and the sugar starts to dissolve. Whisk in the sourdough discard and milk.
5. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Don't overmix, you're looking for no visible pockets of flour, not a silky-smooth batter. Overmixing at this stage is what makes cupcakes tough rather than tender.
6. Gently fold in the floured raspberries and chocolate chips last, using as few strokes as possible.
7. Divide the batter between 12 cupcake liners, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until a skewer or cocktail stick (a toothpick, if that's what you call it) inserted into the centre comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
8. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then move the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1. For the icing, melt the white chocolate in short bursts in the microwave or over a pan of hot water, then set it aside to cool slightly, it shouldn't be warm when it goes into the cream cheese.
2. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter on medium speed until smooth, then add the cold cream cheese and beat on slow speed until just combined.
3. Pour in the cooled melted chocolate and beat again.
4. Add the sifted icing sugar (powdered sugar) and a pinch of salt, beating on slow speed to start (so you don't end up wearing a cloud of icing sugar), then increase to medium speed until the icing is thick and holds its shape.
5. Pipe or spread onto the cooled cupcakes and finish with a scatter of crushed freeze-dried raspberries.
Tips for Best Results
🍇 Freeze fresh raspberries for 15-20 minutes before folding in. Not thawed frozen fruit, freshly frozen. It firms the fruit just enough to stop it sinking and bleeding, without turning the batter soggy. That's an extra step I take when the batter is not very thick.
🥄 Toss the fruit and chocolate chips in flour before folding them in. This gives the batter's structure something to grip onto before it sets in the oven, rather than letting everything drop straight to the bottom.
🧁 Don't overfill the liners. Three-quarters full is enough. This recipe is written to make a clean batch of 12.
🧈 Keep the butter soft but the cream cheese cold for the icing. If both are at room temperature, the icing turns loose and won't hold a piped swirl.
❄️ Let the cupcakes cool completely before icing. Even slightly warm cupcakes will melt the icing straight off the top.
🌾 No icing? Make them into muffins instead. Skip the icing and scatter a streusel topping over the batter before baking. Or simply follow our Sourdough Raspberry White Chocolate Muffin recipe.
Storage & Make-Ahead
Leftover cupcakes, once iced, keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Un-iced cupcakes freeze well: wrap them individually and freeze for up to 2 months, then thaw fully at room temperature before icing. A sourdough dessert almost on demand!
Recipe FAQs
Not raspberries that have been frozen for storage and thawed, no. They release too much liquid and will bleed into the batter, leaving soggy patches and an unset centre. Instead, freeze fresh raspberries for 15 to 20 minutes just before folding them in, it firms them up without the sogginess of fully frozen fruit.
Yes. Skip the icing and scatter a streusel topping over the batter before baking instead. The bake time stays roughly the same, just keep an eye on them from the 18-minute mark. Use our Sourdough Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins recipe for reference.
Blueberries work well. Blackberries are larger and juicier, so halve them first and expect slightly more colour bleed into the batter, it won't affect the flavour.
White chocolate seizes when it gets too hot too fast, or when a drop of water gets into it. Melt it in short 20-second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, or over a pan of hot (not boiling) water, and keep your bowl and spoon completely dry.
More Sourdough Sweet Treats
If you're working through a jar of discard, there's plenty more where these came from. Which sweet treat are you going to make next?
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Raspberry White Chocolate Sourdough Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake liners
- Handheld Electric Mixer or a balloon whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Kitchen scale
- Heatproof bowl (for melting the white chocolate)
- Wire cooling rack
- Piping bag and piping tip, or an offset spatula if you'd rather spread the icing
Ingredients
For Sourdough Cupcakes
- 190 g (1½ cup) plain flour all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 120 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 100 g (½ cup) sourdough discard (100% hydration)
- 120 g (½ cup) vegetable or sunflower oil
- 110 g (½ cup) milk
- 2 eggs large
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 150 g (1 cup) fresh or frozen raspberries
- 100 g (⅔ cup) white chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon plain flour for tossing the berries and chips
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
- 130 g (3.5 oz) full-fat cream cheese cold
- 70 g (1¼ oz) unsalted butter softened
- 100 g (3.5 oz) white chocolate melted and slightly cooled
- 210 g (1¼ cups) powdered sugar sifted
- pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 10-15 g (1 heaped tbsp) freeze-dried raspberries crushed, to finish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), slightly cooler than a muffin bake so the tops stay flatter for icing. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, sourdough discard, milk, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
- Drizzle in the oil, whisking until fully combined.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, just until no dry flour remains.
- Toss the raspberries and white chocolate chips in the tablespoon of flour, then fold in gently and briefly, overmixing at this stage is what causes dense cupcakes and streaky purple batter.
- Divide between the liners, filling each about two-thirds full.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a cocktail stick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter).
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.
Icing:
- Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the melted cooled white chocolate and vanilla and beat again until combined. Gradually beat in the icing sugar and salt until thick and pipeable. If it's too soft, chill for 15-20 minutes before piping. Pipe or spread onto fully cooled cupcakes and finish with a scatter of crushed freeze-dried raspberries.
Notes
Nutrition
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