Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Creme Filling

What with all this heat making itself at home in the Midwest, I've been holed out in my apartment where there is plenty of cold water and a good AC system; it also means that I haven't been to the grocery store in ages. So, I girded up my loans (read with proper British accent) and headed to the store.
I arrived at the grocery store apparently at the same time as the entire population of Zion also arrived. It was a literal feeding frenzy, and once I managed to collect all of the items on my shopping list, check out, and put the bags in my car, I realized that I had to go back in to get sprinkles (it's a must-need, OK?) Yeah, I had to stand in line twice. Whatev.

 
I came home and unpacked everything, blasted the AC and became determined to make something delicious and perfect. The following is the result of such determination. Not too shabby if I might say so myself.


Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Creme Filling
(Adapted from A Beautiful Mess)
Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
2 cups water
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
For filling: 
1 package softened cream cheese
1/2 cup raspberry jam
For frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups softened butter
1 teaspoon raspberry extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you have a smaller sized oven, then preheat to 325. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a separate larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients. 

 

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; stir to combine. There shouldn't be any visible lumps in the batter.

Batter should look like this.

Fill cupcake tins (with liners) about 2/3 full. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until tops look golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cook. Cut round holes in the tops of each cupcake and remove the middle.

For the filling: cream the softened cream cheese with an electric or hand mixer until smooth. Mix in the raspberry jam until it reaches a creamy substance. Fill the holes by spooning in small dollops of the filling.

For the frosting: cream the softened butter with a hand mixer until smooth. Follow by adding the powdered sugar until it reaches a consistency that allows peaks to retain their shape. Stir in the raspberry extract.

Pipe the frosting over the filling holes and decorate with sprinkles of your choice, or even raspberries!