Farmers markets are all over the place during the summer here in Chicago and what better way to use fresh berries than in cupcakes? These fresh berry cupcakes are a huge hit at summer gatherings! (For more photos of recipe see this set via juneann on flickr).
First start with your berries. Pull out enough whole fresh good-looking berries to garnish 18 cupcakes and set aside. Next, the berry compote. Take the rest of the berries and put them in a bowl. Smash them around a bit. Add about 5 tablespoons of sugar, stir well, and set compote aside. The sugar will begin to bring out the natural fresh berry flavors.
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with 18 cups. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into mixer or large bowl. Add buttermilk, butter, vanilla, eggs and water on low speed and blend until thoroughly mixed. Mixture should be soupy.
Pour muffin tins about a third full. Get the berry compote, scoop out about a teaspoon of the compote and add to each cup - preferably some raspberry, strawberry and a blueberry or two in each spoon. Just a taste! Then scoop the rest of your batter into the cups - enough to hide your compote well. This will bake the berry flavor into the cupcake. Put in oven and set timer for 25 minutes.
Take the rest of your compote and mash it really well. I put mine in a ziplock and smooshed it all up with my hands. Boil it on high for 15-20 minutes, stirring a lot while slowly adding the rest of the sugar (about a cup) until it gets jammy. Pour the hot mixture in a bowl and put it in the freezer to cool. Stir it around a few times as it is cooling and it will get thicker as it cools.
Check your cupcakes and a toothpick should come out with just a crumb or two. The cupcakes will come out looking a bit like berry muffins. Let cool for 20 minutes. You can probably make your frosting as they’re cooling. I used vanilla buttercream, but cream cheese frosting may be more appropriate for these cupcakes. The berries are sweet enough all by themselves! Also, cream cheese frosting holds up better in the summer heat.
After the cupcakes have cooled and your berry mixture is cold, take the berry mixture and inject about a tablespoon into each cupcake. I used a plastic frosting bag with a large tip and controlled the flow of the berries with my hand. This is a tricky process, but because it’s a cupcake, the berries stay pretty much contained no matter how you get them in there. Practice makes perfect.
Hide the berry holes with your frosting - I used a 1M star tip and didn’t go too crazy with the frosting because the colorful fresh berry garnish is the focal point of the cupcake - a little bit goes a long way. Hot pink raspberry color really made these cupcakes pop. People love these sweet treats on hot summer days - nice change from chocolate overload!
(makes 18 cupcakes)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- half stick of unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste)
- 1 pint strawberries
- 1 pint blueberries
- 1 pint raspberries
- about a cup of sugar
First start with your berries. Pull out enough whole fresh good-looking berries to garnish 18 cupcakes and set aside. Next, the berry compote. Take the rest of the berries and put them in a bowl. Smash them around a bit. Add about 5 tablespoons of sugar, stir well, and set compote aside. The sugar will begin to bring out the natural fresh berry flavors.
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with 18 cups. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into mixer or large bowl. Add buttermilk, butter, vanilla, eggs and water on low speed and blend until thoroughly mixed. Mixture should be soupy.
Pour muffin tins about a third full. Get the berry compote, scoop out about a teaspoon of the compote and add to each cup - preferably some raspberry, strawberry and a blueberry or two in each spoon. Just a taste! Then scoop the rest of your batter into the cups - enough to hide your compote well. This will bake the berry flavor into the cupcake. Put in oven and set timer for 25 minutes.
Take the rest of your compote and mash it really well. I put mine in a ziplock and smooshed it all up with my hands. Boil it on high for 15-20 minutes, stirring a lot while slowly adding the rest of the sugar (about a cup) until it gets jammy. Pour the hot mixture in a bowl and put it in the freezer to cool. Stir it around a few times as it is cooling and it will get thicker as it cools.
Check your cupcakes and a toothpick should come out with just a crumb or two. The cupcakes will come out looking a bit like berry muffins. Let cool for 20 minutes. You can probably make your frosting as they’re cooling. I used vanilla buttercream, but cream cheese frosting may be more appropriate for these cupcakes. The berries are sweet enough all by themselves! Also, cream cheese frosting holds up better in the summer heat.
After the cupcakes have cooled and your berry mixture is cold, take the berry mixture and inject about a tablespoon into each cupcake. I used a plastic frosting bag with a large tip and controlled the flow of the berries with my hand. This is a tricky process, but because it’s a cupcake, the berries stay pretty much contained no matter how you get them in there. Practice makes perfect.
Hide the berry holes with your frosting - I used a 1M star tip and didn’t go too crazy with the frosting because the colorful fresh berry garnish is the focal point of the cupcake - a little bit goes a long way. Hot pink raspberry color really made these cupcakes pop. People love these sweet treats on hot summer days - nice change from chocolate overload!
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