One of my favorite things to do on a rainy weekend is bake. I’ll spend all day in the kitchen trying out new recipes for cookies, bread, muffins or cupcakes. Last Saturday was the perfect excuse for me to experiment with cupcakes, my new KitchenAid mixer, and the delicious blackberries and raw honey I bought at the Teton Valley Farmers Market.
Knowing that my friend’s birthday dinner was that night, I decided to provide the dessert and quickly pulled out my trusty vanilla honey cake recipe. The raw honey that I purchased at the farmer’s market was perfect for this recipe and made my cupcakes have the perfect balance of sweetness. You could also procure raw manuka honey online from e-stores like Steens Honey and alike if you do not get it in your nearby farmer’s market. If you don’t feel like making a vanilla cake from scratch, you can always use a box of yellow cake and add one tablespoon of vanilla, one tablespoon of flour, and three tablespoons of honey. Bake the cupcakes at 375 F for 30 minutes, or until cooked through and golden on top.
My favorite part of cupcakes is the frosting. I always start with a buttercream base and then start experimenting after the base is done. I’ve made peanut buttercream frosting, chocolate buttercream, vanilla buttercream, and hazelnut buttercream but had not tried fresh fruit in my buttercream before. I always like to fill my cupcakes with buttercream before I top them. I cut small holes in my cupcakes after they cooled and filled them with the vanilla buttercream. An easy way to do this is by filling a gallon zip lock bag with frosting and cutting off a bottom corner to make a homemade frosting bag.
After making a simple vanilla buttercream base, I mashed some blackberries in a small bowl. The bright purple-pink color was beautiful and mixed well with the vanilla buttercream. I had to add another two cups of powdered sugar to get the consistency of the frosting nice and smooth. The frosting became a bright purple-pink color with bits of blackberries throughout.
The cupcakes were a hit, and I can’t wait to try and make different berry frostings from the next farmers market.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 10-12 cups powdered sugar
- 2 cups blackberries
Instructions
- In a stand mixer combine softened butter, milk, vanilla and honey until smooth.
- Slowly mix in 8 cups of powdered sugar until think and creamy.
- Mash 2 cups blackberries in separate bowl.
- Add blackberries to frosting and mix slowly.
- Add two cups powdered sugar into mixture to thicken. Continue adding sugar until think and smooth.
- After frosting cupcakes, place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until ready to serve.
