St. Joseph Raspberry Cream Cupcakes

If you’re only going to celebrate a few feast days a year, St. Joseph’s day is certainly one to keep on the calendar. With so many saints to laud, it’s hard to keep up, but twice a year St. Joe appears on liturgical calendar and his special day is one to celebrate! On May 1, we remember him on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. He is one saint whose profession everyone remembers – St. Joseph the carpenter. According to Catholic Culture, May Day has always been dedicated to workers, and, appropriately this feast day falls on the first day of Mary’s month! “Pope Pius XII expressed the hope that this feast would accentuate the dignity of labor and would bring a spiritual dimension to labor unions. It is eminently fitting that St. Joseph, a working man who became the foster-father of Christ and patron of the universal Church, should be honored on this day.”

Last year on one of Joseph’s feast days, I created this dessert for the first time. If I remember correctly, it came from the Food Network – a Giada De Laurentiis recipe originally. But I modified it a bit and the recipe below is what I’ve settled with. It’s a modified cream puff of sorts – a traditional St. Joseph dish. It also requires a little bit of construction, which is most appropriate for this saint. Ultimately though, it’s simple (with the help of a boxed cake mix) and delicious, but looks very special served on your best china for this great saint’s celebration.

St. Joseph Raspberry Cream Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
3 large eggs whites
2 T. butter, melted
2 t. vanilla extract
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting

Line 24 muffin cups with muffin papers.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

With an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites,
melted butter, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes.
Fill muffin cups about half full
(I find it easiest to do this with an ice cream scoop).

Bake the cupcakes until they are very pale golden on top,
about 15 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes completely.

Drain thawed raspberries.
Beat the cream and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
in a large bowl until firm peaks form.
Fold the raspberries into the whipped cream.

Remove the muffin papers from the cupcakes and cut each cupcake in half.
Spoon the raspberry whipped cream onto the cupcake bottoms.
Place the cupcake tops on the cupcakes.
Dust with more powdered sugar and serve with a squirt of whipped cream, if desired.