Baby Shower Cupcakes

It is a good week to have a baby shower, apparently, and my dear friend, Allison, had a baby shower for her soon-to-arrive baby boy!  When I received her cute invitation, I knew right away that I wanted to create something for her to match it.  The invitation was done in cream, brown, green, red, and blue, and had the cutest little jungle animals on it.  So, I made her chocolate cupcakes filled with raspberry custard and frosted with whipped chocolate raspberry ganache.  To go on top, I made little molded baby jungle animals in red, blue, and green.  I was lucky to find some cute scrapbook paper that matched the invitation colors perfectly, and I wrapped each cupcake in the paper.  They came out so cute, and tasted amazing!  Congratulations, Allison!  You will be the most amazing mom!

Raspberry Curd

1 bag (12 ounces) frozen raspberries, thawed

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a medium saucepan, pressing with a spatula to extract as much juice as possible.  Discard the seeds and clean the strainer.  Stir in the lemon juice and sugar, and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve sugar.  Whisk egg yolks and cornstarch together in a medium bowl until fully combined.  Use a measuring cup to drizzle 1/4 cup of the simmering raspberry mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly.  Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan, whisking constantly.  The mixture will thicken quickly.  Continue whisking for 30 seconds more, then remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.  Strain the curd into a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd.  Refrigerate 4 hours before using.