by Gabrielle Alli
It’s happened too many times: convincing yourself that you’re going to start eating healthier, going on a grocery spree for all kinds of fruits, then letting them sit in your fridge until they go bad. Now you’ve decided that you’re going to start this resolution next week, but what to do with all the berries sitting in the crisper? I have the answer for you.
These berry cupcakes incorporate blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Without frosting, they do nicely for a morning breakfast paired alongside a banana and tea (speaking from personal experience). With frosting, they’re guaranteed to make you smile.
Grab the ingredients below and follow these steps to try them out for yourself!
Ingredients (yields 15-18 cupcakes)
blueberry-blackberry cake batter
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup fresh blackberries
½ cup fresh blueberries
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup Greek yogurt
2 cups powdered sugar
½ cup butter, softened
⅛ cup of fresh strawberries
prep time: 40 minutes
cook time: 25 minutes
total time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Preheat oven to 350℉.
Individually puree blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Set aside.
Strain purees if needed; there may be solid parts, such as seeds.
Whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and Greek yogurt in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar.
Gradually add the dry ingredients mixture to the wet ingredients mixture, mixing well.
Slowly stir, adding in the blueberry and blackberry purees until the batter is consistent.
Pour batter into lined cupcake tins, filling each well about halfway.
If pouring the batter into the wells directly from the bowl is too difficult, pour it into a plastic Ziploc bag. Then seal it and push all the batter into a corner. Cut the end and distribute the batter, as if using a piping bag.
Place cupcake tins in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
While the cupcakes are baking, mix the powdered sugar and softened butter together. Gradually add the strawberry puree and mix until it begins to form soft peaks. Chill in the refrigerator.
Remove lined cupcakes and place on wire racks to cool completely.
Apply frosting using a spoon or piping bag.
Final Thoughts
For this recipe, my mom and I will be the critics.
Here’s what my mom had to say: “It’s a good cake, it’s great with frosting. Better try it now!”
In truth, a couple of things had gone wrong during this process. I opted to use frozen berries instead of fresh berries, and this caused the cupcakes to cook unevenly at first and deflate. If you have to use frozen berries, remember to preheat your oven. Otherwise, this uneven cooking will be even more apparent.
Margarine is usually a decent alternative to butter in buttercream frosting, but butter would’ve held up better with the strawberry puree. I used margarine, and it separated from the puree. Still, the cake itself tasted great, and had the buttercream not separated as much, it would’ve been a nice compliment.
With these pointers in mind (and a well edited recipe), feel free to try these out for yourself. It’s a fun process to bake, and there’s plenty of parts where you can switch things up to suit your own tastes. Happy baking!