Berry Cupcakes

Berry Cupcakes use the puree of fresh fruit to impart a sweet, tart, berry flavor into the cupcakes and the frosting. Use any berries you prefer, I went with the combination of raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry.

I’ve got more pink treats lined up for you guys. Hope you don’t mind… I made these cupcakes a couple months ago and honestly had no idea they were going to turn out to be such a pretty pink color. I decided to sit on the post so that I could post it in October.

These Berry Cupcakes were the first cupcakes I brought in to work since moving back to Ohio. A couple people at work knew I had a food blog, but I don’t think they fully comprehended what that meant. These cupcakes caused a great deal of buzz. People were really impressed with the “professional” look of them.

I have to admit, piping frosting on a cupcake is one of my favorite things to do. They say if you do something for 10,000 hours, you’re an expert at it. I surely haven’t come close to piping frosting for 10,000 hours yet, but I know I’ve baked an frosted a LOT of cupcakes in the past 6 years that this blog has been around.

The original recipe just used blackberries, but I decided to go for the tri-berry combination of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The cupcakes themselves have a great berry flavor, but the frosting is what shines on these cupcakes. It has a great berry flavor that has a smidge of tartness to counter the sweetness that you get with this type of frosting.

Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge! Make something PINK during the month of October to raise Breast Cancer Awareness and a chance to win a $100 donation to the charity of your choice.

One Year Ago: White Chocolate Raspberry Blondies and Pumpkin, Dulce de Leche Oat Bars
Two Years Ago: Neapolitan Cheesecake Cake
Three Years Ago: Roasted Beet Hummus
Six Years Ago: Open Faced Chicken Salad Club and Chicken Sausage and Roasted Veggie Pizza

Berry Cupcakes

Berry Cupcakes use the puree of fresh fruit to impart a sweet, tart, berry flavor into the cupcakes and the frosting. Use any berries you prefer, I went with the combination of raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes
18 oz fresh fruit - I used 6 oz each of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
1/3 cup milk, at room temperature
6 egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp lemon juice
2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

For the Frosting
2 sticks butter unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
5 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp meringue powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup fruit puree

Directions:

For the Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two muffin pans with liners.

Puree berries in a food processor or blender. Scrape into a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. With a rubber spatula, work the berries through the sieve, leaving seeds behind. Remove 1/4 cup of puree for the frosting. You should have ~2/3 cup of blackberry puree leftover.

In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, lemon juice, and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.

Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 30 more seconds. Fill cupcake liners ~3/4 full.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake in each pan comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pans and then transfer to a covered plate.

For the Frosting
Cream butter and extracts until smooth.

Mix in confectioner’s sugar, meringue powder, and salt and beat 2-3 minutes on high.

Add berry puree and beat for an additional minute. Adjust consistency, if desired, with additional confectioner's sugar or water.

Recipe seen on Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally adapted from Cook's Illustrated