Chocolate blueberry cupcakes with chocolate blueberry truffle and blueberry frosting
1 Jun
I returned from vacation on Wednesday and jumped into the kitchen Thursday night with a recipe that’s a bit … ambitious. Not too difficult to pull together, but there are a lot of steps. Nevertheless, I think it’s a recipe that my taste testers will really enjoy and something that can easily be replicated by home bakers (you can also simplify the process by cutting out the truffle filling, however, I don’t suggest it. And neither will your taste buds.)
These blueberries were picked in the height of blueberry season last summer. I froze them, and we’ve been living off them ever since. Blueberry pie? Sure! Blueberry filling for cakes? Absolutely! How about some blueberries in a slightly sweet quinoa porridge for breakfast on a cold January day? You bet!
Picking fruit in season and then freezing it so you can live off the bounty for months to come is A MUST … especially when you live in or near NJ and you have access to some of the BEST blueberries in the country (just sayin’).
Also to note, instead of using coffee–which is what I usually do for this chocolate cake recipe–I decided to play around and use one of my favorite milk stouts (simply called Milk Stout) from Left Hand Brewing Co., based in Longmont, Co. Left Hand is a super cool brewery–I visited the tap room on my honeymoon–and the beer smelled heavenly in the pot with the butter and cocoa.
Just to note, there are a few on the market as well. I’m most familiar with Blueberry Oatmeal Stout, which is pretty good, but I’d love to get my hands on some others.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line cupcake pans with papers.
Work on the Chocolate Blueberry Truffle Filling first so it has time to chill (at least 30 minutes). Measure the chocolate into a heat-safe bowl. Bring the heavy cream, blueberry puree and butter to a boil. Take off the heat and pour over the chocolate, letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. Stir to combine, then chill.
For the cupcakes, combine flour, baking soda, salt and sugar, whisking to blend; set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed, medium pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat. Once melted, add the stout and whisk together (Note: If you don't want to use beer, use coffee for a deep mocha flavor). Add the cocoa--gradually--whisking to combine. The mixture should come to a simmer, but not a boil. You want it to thicken.
Once thickened, cool the cocoa mixture for about 10-15 minutes (the freezer is handy here).
In your stand mixer, whip together the eggs and buttermilk.
Once the cocoa mixture has cooled, slowly add a little bit of it to temper the eggs, whisking constantly. Continue to slowly add the remaining mixture, whisking to combine (this might best be done by taking the bowl off the stand mixer and whisking by hand, then putting it back on to the mixer for the dry ingredients).
Add the dry ingredients in 3-4 stages, mixing well to combine. Add the blueberry extract (this will punch up aroma) and mix well.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full. Bake for about 18-22 minutes. When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 5 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.
Once cooled, core the cupcakes, fill a piping bag with the truffle filling and pipe into each cupcake.
For the frosting, whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of confectioners sugar and beat to combine. Add the blueberry puree and blueberry extract. Add the remaining sugar gradually and whip until light and fluffy.
Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, aiming to cover the filling hole (left uncovered). Frosting does not need to go out to the edges--this is a pretty rich cupcake and you don't want the flavors over-powered by too much frosting.
um, that was awesome.
Delicioso! Really liked the blueberry/chocolate combo, the truffle filling was fab! I liked the blueberry flavor of the icing, too, though it did taste a little… butter heavy (?) to me. Is that even a thing? Altogether, though, pretty darn good!
If Count Chocula and Blueberry Muffin had a love child, it would be this cupcake. Fantastic!
i noticed that 1 1/2 cups of butter is considered 2 1/2 sticks in this recipe, when it is actually 3 sticks. is the recipe intended to use [2 1/2 sticks / 1 1/4 cups of butter] or [3 sticks / 1 1/2 cups of butter?] i just wasn’t sure of the ratios.
Thanks Alisha for bringing that to my attention…I have a feeling something got swapped around in my recipe conversion spread sheet.
I have updated the recipe so that it is correct (anyone want to be a freelance post proofer for me? ;)) and shows that the correct amount of butter is 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks).
Thanks for reading and helping me improve my recipe writing!