Kat's Notebook

My boss lent me this cupcake book one day because I was asking about cupcakes. Though I told her that not to bother, she still brought the book. I wasn’t able to get any recipes from there but it gave me ideas on what cupcake I’d like to bake. I’m not into chocolate-recipe desserts. I’m more of a fruity type of person.

Initially I tried apple banana cupcake. It didn’t turn out a cupcake but more of a muffin. It was good though I was still disappointed because I want a cupcake result.

What’s the difference between a cupcake and a muffin anyway?

From what I gathered from the internet, the differences are: cupcake is a little

cake and muffins are quick bread, cupcakes have frosting/icing on top while muffins don’t, cupcakes use butter while muffins use vegetable oil, cupcakes are eaten as dessert while muffins during breakfast or tea time, and the most enlightening of them all: If you threw a cupcake against the wall, you would hear something of a "poof!" If you threw a muffin, you would hear a "thud!"

If I’m not going to make chocolate cupcake or its variety, I decided to make blueberry cupcake. I thought of strawberry cupcake too but I haven’t found a good recipe. What sold me to this blueberry cupcake recipe are the pictures. Thanks to these blogs Dablin’s Sweet Dreams and Sass and Veracity I was so excited to bake this recipe. Their pictures made me drool.

Is That Blueberry Enough? Cupcake Recipe

(Note: I just made up the title but simply put it’s Blueberry Cupcake Recipe)

Blueberry Puree:
Bring 1 pound of blueberries (fresh or frozen) to a boil over low-medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick (about 1/2 hour). Cool the mixture slightly before blending in a food processor until smooth. For an extra smooth puree, pass the mixture through a fine sieve before using.
Yields about 1 1/4 cups.

Blueberry Cupcakes:
2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup blueberry puree
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin tin with paper cups.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating just until incorporated.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, mix the milk, blueberry puree and vanilla.
Add wet and dry ingredients alternately to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until incorporated after each addition. Do not overbeat!
Divide the batter evenly among the 12 paper cups. Spoon 1 teaspoon of blueberry puree into the center and mix in slightly with a wooden skewer or small spoon.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until cake springs back to the touch. Cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire
rack and cool completely before frosting.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup blueberry puree
2 1/4 cups powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the blueberry puree and almond extract just until combined. Add the icing sugar gradually and beat until smooth and spreadable.
Frost the cooled cupcakes as you wish. Store in the fridge but bring to room temperature before serving.

Note: I only used 1 pack of frozen blueberries and not followed the 1 pound instruction so my cupcakes weren’t berry blue. The cupcakes turned out cake-y and not moist enough for my taste. I don’t know why but probably I overbeat the mixture or that’s just the texture of the cupcake? For the puree, initially I sifted it through a sieve but in the end, I decided to incorporate the “pulpy” parts of the mashed blueberry into the butter mixture so I can have blueberry chunks in my cupcake.

Result: Great job, I may say. As of now I’m the only one who has tasted it. HAHAHA.

Related posts:

1. EASY BLUEBERRY CRUNCH
2. The Red Velvet Cupcake Project
3. Simple Banana Muffin Recipe
4. Delicioso BANANA CREAM PIE recipe
5. Dutch Apple Cake recipe