Raspberry White Chocolate Buttercream Cupcakes

1 . Stage

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2 . Stage

Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

3 . Stage

Mix together vanilla cake mix, 1 cup water, vegetable oil, and eggs in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until cake mix is moist. Raise mixer speed to medium and beat until batter is smooth, 2 minutes.

4 . Stage

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.

5 . Stage

Bake in the preheated oven until cupcakes are very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes.

6 . Stage

Cool cupcakes in the pans for 5 minutes; transfer cupcakes to cooling rack to finish cooling.

7 . Stage

Place raspberries, 1 tablespoon water, and white sugar in a blender and pulse several times to chop raspberries; blend until pureed, about 30 seconds.

8 . Stage

Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup water until thoroughly combined; pour into the raspberry mixture in the blender and blend again until smooth.

9 . Stage

Pour raspberry mixture into a saucepan and simmer over low heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Let the raspberry filling cool.

10 . Stage

Cut a core out of each cupcake about 1 1/2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter.

11 . Stage

Spoon about 2 teaspoons raspberry filling into each cupcake.

12 . Stage

Place white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30-second intervals until chips begin to melt, about 1 minute. Stir and repeat, heating chips about 10 seconds at a time, until thoroughly melted. Stir until chocolate is smooth and no more lumps remain.

13 . Stage

Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in half the confectioners' sugar, melted white chocolate chips, and milk until mixture is smooth and creamy.

14 . Stage

Slowly beat in remaining confectioners' sugar until smooth; if frosting is too stiff, beat in more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.

15 . Stage

Spread or pipe the white chocolate frosting over the cupcakes to cover the raspberry filling; drizzle or pipe any remaining raspberry filling over the cupcakes.