Berrylicious Birthday Cupcakes!

The first mission of the cupcake militia was a solo one...well except for the eating aspect of the recipe.  It was my birthday and I wanted to make cupcakes.  So I did.  :)  I will say that Kelly and Jen were involved in the moral support of the prep time and baking and I will cut them slack since we were scrapbooking as well.  So there I was, another year older and contemplating how to make some really awesome cupcakes.  I finally decided on a berry cupcake with lemon buttercream frosting.  Sounds delicious, right?  Instead of going for the artificial flavoring, a decision was made to make these cupcakes with a frozen berry puree.  After whipping up the batter, we were all amazed by how gorgeous it was.  It was purple and pretty.  (It tasted amazing as well!)

The cupcakes were baked and they looked amazingly purplicious coming out of the oven as well.

 The frosting is just a typical buttercream with one citrusy addition.  To make the frosting a true lemon flavor, I added lemon zest and lemon juice from a fresh lemon.  And when I say fresh, I mean fresh off of the lemon tree in Jen's front yard.  With the buttercream made and the cupcakes cooled it was time to try something new.  Filling the cupcakes.

I will admit that this was a slightly difficult task.  Having never filled a cupcake it took some trial and error, but they did end up turning out.  After some difficulty with making my parchment pastry bags (thanks you-tube!)  I was able to complete this task.

 

And if I do say so myself they look pretty scrumptious!

The cupcakes were filled and ready to be frosted!  After preparing the frosting bag again, on went the frosting.

Kelly decided that she needed to be the first ones to try the cupcakes.  She looks like she enjoys them?  What do you think?

So as I said in the beginning of this blog, it was my birthday and Kelly came up with some candles and after a verse of  "Happy Birthday", we all enjoyed munching on these cupcakes.

This first mission has proved to be a success and we will be attempting many more in the future.  Stay tuned for more deliciousness from the cupcake militia!

Berrylicious Cupcakes with Fresh Lemon Butter-Cream

Berrylicious Cupcake

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup blueberry puree (see instructions below)

Fresh Lemon Butter-Cream

2 sticks unsalted butter

4 cups powered sugar

1 lemon, zested and juiced

pinch of salt

Berry Puree

1 pound of fresh or frozen berries. ( I used the frozen mixed berries from Wal-mart)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and arrange cupcake liners in a muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and eggs.  Once mixed add the milk and vanilla.  Fold in the blueberry puree until well mixed.

4.  To make the puree add fresh or frozen berries to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer the puree until most of the juice is gone.  Remove from heat and mash the berries with a potato masher or blend with an immersion blender.  You can press the mixture through a sieve, but I chose to leave the seeds involved.

5.  Pour the cupcake mixture into the lined muffin tin, and bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake come back clean.  The cupcakes should be springy to the touch.

6.  For the frosting, beat the butter and sugar until mixed.  Add the lemon juice and lemon zest.  Continue to mix until creamy and delicious, about 4 minutes.

7.  To fill the cupcakes, fill a prepared parchment bag (see link below) with the frosting.  Put the decorators tip into the center of the cupcake, applying pressure until the cupcake is filled.

8.  Frost the cupcakes with a large star tip.

9.  Enjoy!

How to make a parchment bag courtesy of  tonedna1 on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xzGt3ToUU4