Berry-licious: Blueberry and Raspberry Cupcakes with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I know it has been a dog's age since I posted anything on here, but it wasn't because I was lazy. In fact, my next couple of posts are all going to be a blitz today getting everything I've done up on here!

Summer has long since forgotten her promise of lazy afternoons, and I have felt my schedule accelerate at break-neck speed these past few weeks.

In truth, July is always busy. One reason in particular is sailing. I love to sail, myself, but it is my boyfriend and my father, and all my male relatives who do the brunt of the heavy competitive sailing. They all compete in the Bayview to Mackinac Race every year (my boyfriend and father race on separate boats, making for competition, of course), and then my boyfriend flitts off to Chicago to do the Chicago to Mackinac Race. ::Sigh:: He left again this morning.

So getting everything ready is always a bit of a chore - but now I have six days to finally get all of these pictures posted!

So two weeks ago I made raspberry-blueberry cupcakes (they are in season, after all). One of my friends from work had let slip she was moving on in her career, so I made them with her especially in mind (since I found out she goes crazy for fruit).

The cupcakes were sensational and at least half a dozen people told me they had surpassed all others as their favourite (although, to be honest, one of those people says that every single week, so I don't know how much they are to be trusted!)

There was so much fruit in this cupcake, and since I folded them in whole instead of beating them in, they both kind of exploded in the cupcakes and were still a little oozy when they had cooled the next morning.

For the icing, I just wanted to give it some pep, but I didn't think whole fruits were the right way to go so I tried the sickly sweet blackberry syrup I just picked up at Winners (Canadian TJ Maxx, pretty much). I think any type of fruit syrup would work, you just have to be ready for a slightly thinner icing (I didn't mind that)

(the plate though did come from TJ Maxx in a set of four! Isn't that just the cutest design? I wish my camera would stop being so ridiculous. I think I need a new one...)

Ok, back on track - here's the recipe, it's dead easy. I think these are one of the best summery cupcakes I've ever had - but since I'm biased you better try making them yourself!

Blueberry-Raspberry "Berrylicious" Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

2 3/4 c. cake flour
1 c. softened unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 banana, mashed
1 c. milk
2 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1 c. whole washed blueberries
1 c. whole washed raspberries

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees; paper 24 cupcake tins
  
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy; add eggs one at a time and beat well after each
• Add banana and beat well
• Combine flour and baking powder, set aside
• Combine milk and vanilla, set aside
• Alternate wet and dry ingredients until fully combined
• TURN MIXER OFF
• Fold in fruit so as not to break fruit
• Fill tins 3/4 full and bake 20-22 min until golden brown and slightly springy to the touch
• Cool completely before frosting

Blackberry Cream Cheese Icing
The zingy cream cheese and slightly tart blackberry made for a stunning combo

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (1 package)
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
4 c. icing sugar
1/4 c. blackberry syrup (not jam)

• Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth; add two cups of icing sugar (one cup at a time) until smooth
• Add syrup by the tablespoon
• Add the last two cups, one cup at a time, until full combined
• If the icing is too runny, add more icing sugar by the tablespoon - but realized that this icing is just a little thinner

And voila! Ice, decorate with some leftover fruit, and enjoy!

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing

My first cookbook dedicated solely to cakes was Cakewalk: Loving Spoonfuls from a Southern Kitchen by Robbin Gourley. It was an unexpected Christmas gift from my mother in 1997 when I was thirteen years old and highly impressionable. I have no idea where she found it, but I know it was more the beautiful illustrations that Robbin paints to accompany her recipes that lured my mother towards to purchase (my Mom is also an artist, after all), rather than the recipes. The illustrations are exquisite, complete with vignettes about Robbin's childhood and the family history behind each cake.

But the real artistic tour-de-force in this book is still the cakes. This is the book that first introduced me to scrumptious Red Velvet Cake, cheerful Pineapple Upside down Cake, and the ever-classic, decadent Bete Noire. Every recipe I have tried in this book has yielded amazing results - so while the book is not easy to find, if you ever happen across it...don't miss it!

I knew it was time to translate one of her cake recipes into cupcakes. Although I've tried almost every recipe in her book, I've never turned them into cupcakes - but I could hardly exclude Robbin from my cupcake quest.

You see, I've been feeling a bit of a funk these days. The weather in my hometown has been downright dreary these past few weeks, constantly drizzling out of the East in mournful shades of grey. The only days it seems to shine I am encased in my cubicle, far from the light. This is the first year with no "summer vacation" and I am feeling almost sick with lack of fresh air and vitamin D. I think my sense of disassociation with the seasons has caused me to veer towards more wintery, spicy, cupcakes, and I knew the time had arrived to seize Spring by the tastebuds and give it a shake.

Hence, Hummingbird Cupcakes. Hummingbird cupcakes are one of my most favourite recipes in Robbin's book. She writes "A long-standing favourite in the South, this cake is as delicate as the bird for which it is named". Indeed, these sweetooth pleasers are a gorgeous treat, full of sweet fruit and nuts. They have only a teaspoon of baking soda, and yet they rise gracefully and dome like a muffin. But their texture is definitely cake.

At work they were such a hit. I've recently moved to a new workstation - moving away from the front desk to my little corner just around the corner. The number one question I got when my coworkers were informed about the move was "where will the cupcakes be when you move?", which made me smile. Having the cupcakes on my desk is a nice way to have a little company throughout the day, as people come to pick up a cupcake or tell me their reviews.

Hummingbird cupcakes were the perfect salute to Spring. Fruity and sweet without the sickly taste of too much sugar, and my adapted cream cheese icing offered a nice balancing taste. Give these ones a try when the weather looks dull - they might not have much vitamin D, but they are still full of sunshine!

Hummingbird Cupcakes
From Cakewalk: Loving Spoonfuls from a Southern Kitchen, by Robbin Gourley
makes 24 cupcakes

3 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
one 8 oz can crushed pineapple with juice
1 c. chopped pecans
2 c. well mashed bananas

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; paper 2 cupcake tins
• In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
• Add the eggs and oil and stir until all the ingredients are moist (Do NOT Beat!)
• Stir in the vanilla, pineapple with juice, pecans and bananas (Do NOT Beat!)
• I saved three tablespoons of pineapple and juices for the icing
  
• Spoon the batter 3/4 into tins and bake for 22-25 minutes until springy to the touch

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
pineapple and cream cheese is one of my favourite taste combinations, and here it was a perfect marriage of tastes
one 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese
1/2 c. (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
5 c. icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. crushed pineapple and juices

• Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth
• Add first three cups of icing sugar one cup at a time
• Add vanilla and pineapple
• Add last two cups of icing sugar one cup at a time until smooth
• Spread generously!

You might consider sprinkling some pecans on the top of cupcakes for a cute effect, I topped mine with a tidbit of pineapple.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Armed with my new mixer...I am invincible.

No really, the mixer is phenomenal. It's like the instrument to a set of baking super powers I never knew existed, and now that I do I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. Seriously, it's like becoming a baking superhero.

It's the batmobile of baking utensils.

With that in mind, I was ready to try anything - and I was definitely ready to try something new. I'd been asked a couple of weeks back to make chocolate cupcakes, and this seemed to be a great week to try them; however, I needed a bit more kick than that. I found exactly what I was looking for on chockylit's blog Cupcake Bakeshop, one of my most-favorite-of-all-times cupcake blogs. This is a woman who is not afraid of her ingrediants, and armed with my mixer I was suddenly eager to jump into the fray.

I was so sorry to see that her blog is now closed. On her last entry she spoke about going new places (she has had a child, and is a career woman to boot), so I couldn't help but understand - yet selfishly, I wish she had continued! :) So this recipe seemed to be an even better choice, a tipping of the cap to chockylit.

What I found was a recipe for Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes that looked wicked good. The recipe also called for eight eggs. Eight Eggs! However, I was not worried - I have a mixer after all!

So I jumped to it, and I must say they were pretty darn delicious. I was surprised that the batter rose as much as it did (it had a bit of a dome) and they were a nice texture - but I am still searching for the perfect chocolate cake recipe - one that is more a bit more moist. That is my only complaint.

As for the icing, chockylit tried a chai buttercream, but I was in the mood for something with a bit more punch....so I invented my own! I must say, the icing is a real winner. I will definitely use it again. I've thought about what it would taste like on a vanilla chai cupcake, which I think is worth looking in to. Finally, the raspberries (my afterthought decoration) were the perfect pairing - adding a little sharp sweet to the cupcake. My co workers loved them, a few actually said it was their favourite one yet!

However, when I brought the cupcakes to work, one of my more carb-conscious co workers took to nipping the raspberries without the cupcake...which soon lead to an angry note taped to my desk outlining proper raspberry-cupcake etiquette!

For the chai spice, chockylit gives a great recipe for do-it-yourself; however I am really committed to the chai masala spice I hunted at the Toronto International Food Show made by Arvinda's,

a company that makes authentic masala spices for gourmet Indian cuisine. Personally, I'm so much in love I cannot imagine using any other chai spice (plus cardamom is a pain in neck to grind)

So, anyway, check out the recipe on chockylit's site, and the to-die-for icing is below!

Chocolate Chai Spice Cream Cheese Icing

try saying that five times fast - it's not a tongue twister, it's just fun

8 oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 c. (1 stick) softened unsalted butter

4 c. icing sugar

2 tsp. milk

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. chai spice

• sift cocoa, chai spice, and icing sugar together (or dump it all together and use a wire whisk for 20 seconds to break up chunks, and blend together)
• beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy
• add icing sugar mixture one cup at a time for the first two cups
• add milk
• add last two cups of icing sugar mix
• pipe with large, round tip; top with raspberries!

Again, eyeball your icing. Icing consistency changes a lot, especially as the days get hotter you may find you need more icing sugar to get a good consistency. This icing is rich and creamy!

May the mixer be with you.