BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES WITH BLUEBERRY BUTTERCREAM
These amazing blueberry cupcakes with blueberry buttercream are guaranteed to impress. The recipe is quick and easy, but the results are mind-blowing! All you need is half an hour and minimal piping skills. The cupcakes have the perfect ratio of creamy buttercream to fluffy cupcake, and the blueberry flavour comes through in every bite.
Servings 12
Ingredients
For blueberry cupcakes:
- 200 g (1 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g (1 cup) caster sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 medium eggs, room temperature
- 200 g (1 2/3 cups) plain or gluten free flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 – 4 tbsp milk, room temperature
- 125 g (1 cup) blueberries, tossed in 1/2 tbsp flour of choice (Note 1)
For blueberry buttercream:
- 250 g (2 cups) fresh blueberries
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 350 g (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 350 g (~2 3/4 cups) icing/powdered sugar, sifted
For decoration:
- piping bag
- 18 mm open star piping nozzle
Instructions
For blueberry cupcakes:
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF) and line a cupcake baking tray with 12 cupcake cases.
- In a bowl, mix together all blueberry cupcake ingredients except for the blueberries.
- Mix until a smooth batter forms, but do not over-mix.
- Fold in the blueberries until they are evenly distributed.
- Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill the cupcake cases about 3/4 full with the cupcake batter.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven at 180 ºC (350 ºF) for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake baking tray and allow to cool before decorating.
For blueberry buttercream – Part I:
- In a saucepan, bring the blueberries and lemon juice to a boil. The blueberries will soften and release their juice.
- Simmer until the juice is significantly reduced in volume and a thick, jam-like consistency is reached (about 5 – 10 minutes).
- Pass the cooked blueberries through a sieve to remove their skins. Use a spatula or spoon to press the blueberry "jam" against the sieve so as to extract all of the reduced juice.
- Allow the reduced juice to cool completely before adding it to the buttercream. If it is too warm, it will melt the butter, which you most definitely don't want.
For blueberry buttercream – Part II:
- Using either a hand mixer with the beater attachments or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until pale and somewhat fluffy.
- Add 1/2 of icing/powdered sugar and beat the butter/sugar mixture on medium to high speed for about 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1/2 of icing/powdered sugar and beat the mixture for a further 10 minutes (5 minutes medium speed, 5 minutes high speed). At this stage, the buttercream should be very pale, creamy and fluffy.
- Add the cooled reduced blueberry juice, all at once, and beat the buttercream at high speed for 1 minute.
- Using a spatula, scrape along the mixing bowl walls to check that all of the blueberry juice has been incorporated. If it hasn't, mix again for 1 minute.
For decorating the cupcakes:
- Using an 18 mm open star nozzle and piping bag, pipe the blueberry buttercream on top of the blueberry cupcakes. (Note 2)
Storage:
- The cupcakes keep well in a closed container in a cool dry place for about 3 – 4 days. (But only if you hide then really well...)
Notes
Note 1: Coating the blueberries in flour ensures that they don't all sink to the bottom of the cupcakes.
Note 2: To achieve the piping decoration as in the pictures above, keep the piping bag vertically above each cupcake. Start piping so that the nozzle is about 1 cm (about 1/2 inch) above the cupcake, and then slowly raise the nozzle as you continue piping. When the buttercream is at the height you want, stop piping and quickly "pull" the nozzle up to get the sharp peak on top.Ta-da!