Black(berry) Bottom Cupcakes

time for a delightful summertime desset- blackberry bottom cupcakes! i used livinglocurto's fresh blackberry cake recipe (she has a printable recipe there) and modified it a little and made cupcakes... and they were so delicious.

the texture of the cake was a little muffin-y, not as fine as regular cake, and not too terribly sweet, but the buttercream frosting definitely brought it into the cake realm. the cake has two tablespoons of lemon pudding mix in it, so that lightens and freshens the flavor up with just that hint of lemon, giving it another taste dimension.

my edits: i didn't have self-rising flour, but no problem. to make self-rising flour, you just add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for each cup of all purpose flour. and, i'll even do the math for you- 4 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 3 c. all purpose flour for this recipe.
also, i used frozen blackberries instead of fresh, because i'm cheap, but i otherwise followed her recipe.

so, here we go. ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups frozen blackberries (about 1-16 oz package), thawed and drained and blotted
  
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 2 1/4 cups sugar (split)
• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 3 cups all purpose flour, mixed with 4 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon instant pudding mix (you can make pudding later with the rest of the mix and 1 3/4 c milk)
  
• 1 cup of milk

-defrost, drain, and blot the blackberries. sprinkle with 1/4 c. sugar and a pinch cinnamon. set aside.
-preheat oven to 350. line as many cupcake tins as you have with cupcake papers (this recipe makes about 42 cupcakes, so you'll do several batches).
-mix together flour, powder, salt, and pudding mix. set aside.
-beat butter with a mixer until fluffy, then add the 2 c. sugar and vanilla and beat well.
-add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.
-add dry ingredients about 1 cup at a time, alternating with milk, and beating after each addition of dry or milk.
-put about 2-4 berries in each cupcake paper, then cover with a scoop of batter, filling about 1/2 to 2/3 full, like this:



-bake about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. it's ok if it comes out with blackberry juice on it, just as long as it doesn't have cake batter on it. this is what they'll look like, hopefully.


the blackberries sort of leak through the papers and leave some juice in the pan, so you should wipe it out with a damp paper towel before moving onto the next batch. be careful when you're eating the final product as well, lest you have sticky blue fingers!

-let cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, then frost with buttercream frosting. the recipe i used is below, but i am certainly not one to judge you if you use a canned buttercream frosting. nobody will notice, especially since you put so much effort into the cake part!


so, if you're inclined to make your own buttercream frosting, here's a really simple recipe from allrecipes.com that makes for a really fabulous frosting.

-1/2 cup shortening
-1/2 cup butter, softened
-1 tsp vanilla (i added a little extra splash, because i like vanilla)
-4 cups powdered sugar (that's about 1 lb, so you can use just one box or half a 2 lb bag or something)
-2 tbsp milk

beat together the shortening and butter until smooth.
add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
add the sugar, about one cup at a time, incorporating well after each addition.
after all the sugar is in, or with the last 1 cup addition, add the 2 tablespoons of milk.
that's it! spread it on or pipe it if you want to be extra fancy. it's fairly stiff, so it lends itself well to piping.

here's a piped batch, ready to be shared with co-workers.


needless to say, these made me an office baking legend.