Recipe of the week | Blueberries

Recipe | Blueberry Cupcakes

I've been gone for a hot minute! Here's a much-enjoyed recipe from the Lola's Forever recipe book of Lola's Cupcakes. Original recipe proportions of sugar and other changes in brackets. I used the cream cheese frosting proportions from the Red Velvet and Carrot cupcakes.

Makes: 12-16

Ingredients
200g Self-raising flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
175g unsalted Butter
180g Soft light brown sugar (recipe: 250g caster/granulated sugar)
1  1/2 teaspoons Vanilla essence (recipe: vanilla bean paste)
3 Eggs
175ml Soured Cream
48 blueberries

Cream cheese icing
60g blueberries
1 teaspoon Caster/granulated sugar
60g unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla essence (recipe: vanilla bean paste)
200g Icing sugar
400g cream cheese (Philadelphia light)

To decorate
36 fresh blueberries

Method
1)   Preheat the oven to 180oC/ Fan 160oC/ Gas Mark 4 and line a muffin
      pan with 12 muffin cases.
2)  Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Mix the butter
      and sugar in a separate bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape 
      down the sides and mix again.
3)  Add the vanilla bean past and mix. Slowly add in the eggs, one at a
     time.
4)  Add the dry ingredients and mix slowly until combined. Once you have
     a smooth batter, add the soured cream - do not over-mix.
5) Using an ice cream scoop, divide the mixture between the muffin cases,
     filling to almost 2/3rds full. Gently push four blueberries into the batter
     of each cake.
6) Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes, until well-risen and a
     skewer insert into the cakes comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to
     cool completely.

Cream cheese icing
1)  Simmer the blueberries in a saucepan with the caster/granulated sugar
     and 1 teaspoon of water for 10 minutes, then blend until smooth. Set
     aside to cool.
2) Beat the butter in a bowl until soft and smooth then add vanilla essence
     and sift in the icing sugar in 2 batches.
3)  Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth and glossy. Do not
     over-mix. Add the cooled blueberry puree and slowly combine (you
     can leave a small blueberry ripple).
4) Spoon the icing into a piping or pastry bag with a large star nozzle tip
     and pipe a swirl onto each cupcake.
5) Alternatively, spread the icing onto each cupcake using a palette knie
     or metal spatula
6) Finish each cupcake with 3 blueberries on top.

Enjoy, ladies and gents! I must tell you, the folks at work loved this. The all-pervading blueberry scent as you open the carrying box is amazing! It is creamy but bursting with blueberry tastiness. And the blueberry puree is an idea for a healthier option beside blueberry pancakes (with a dollop of natural yoghurt perhaps?). Let me know how you get on with this one!

Laters!