Blueberry Hill Cupcakes

From the kitchen of Carly

Tender blueberry cupcakes with a delicate crumb that stays moist thanks to buttermilk and a touch of oil. Bursts of frozen berries throughout, topped with a simple frosting that lets the cake shine without being too sweet.

Blueberry Hill Cupcakes

Tender, moist cupcakes built on buttermilk and lemon, studded with frozen blueberries that stay intact instead of bleeding. The trick is the milk blend in the batter, which keeps the crumb delicate, and a maple frosting that's grainy in the best way, never cloying. These are the kind you reach for twice.

Prep
n/a
Cook
n/a
Total
n/a
Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 3 1/4 cupall purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cupsugar
  • 1 tbspbaking powder
  • 1/2 tspcoarse kosher salt
  • 1/4 tspbaking soda
  • 6 tbspunsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cupcanola oil
  • 2 largeeggs
  • 1 cupbuttermilk or low-fat yogurt
  • 1 cupwhole milk
  • 1 tspvanilla extract
  • 1 tspgrated lemon peel
  • 1 1/4 cupfresh blueberries, frozen for 4 hours
  • 2 1/4 cuppowdered sugar
  • 10 tbspunsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cupplus 2 tablespoons maple sugar
  • 1/2 tspcoarse kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 tspvanilla extract
  • 4 tspwhole milk
  • 1 cupchilled fresh blueberries
  • 1Fresh mint sprigs

Instructions

  1. Set the oven to 350°F and line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Sift the flour and next 4 dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and canola oil together, then add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour in the buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, and lemon peel and whisk to combine. Tip the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk just until blended, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the frozen blueberries, then divide the batter evenly among the lined cups.

  2. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to wire racks and let them cool completely before frosting.

  3. In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, maple sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Pour in 4 teaspoons of milk and beat with an electric mixer until the frosting is fluffy and well blended, about 4 minutes, adding more milk by the teaspoon if it seems too dry. Small granules of maple sugar will still be visible in the finished frosting. Spread it generously over the tops of the cooled cupcakes.

  4. Scatter chilled fresh blueberries over each frosted cupcake and tuck in a mint sprig if you like. The cupcakes keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 hours.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Freeze your blueberries solid before folding them in. Cold berries don't burst during mixing and hold their shape through baking, giving you whole fruit pockets instead of purple streaks.
  • Don't overmix the batter once you add the wet ingredients. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing toughens the crumb and knocks air out of what should be tender cake.
  • The maple frosting will feel grainy even after beating. That's right. Small sugar crystals give it personality and keep it from tasting too sweet. If it's truly dry, add milk by the teaspoon, not a splash.

Variations

  • Skip the maple frosting and dust cooled cupcakes with powdered sugar instead. It's faster and lets the blueberry and lemon flavors sing without competition.
  • Make them lemon blueberry layer cakes instead. Bake the batter in two buttered 8-inch rounds at 350°F for about 25 to 30 minutes, cool, then split and frost between layers.
  • Swap the blueberries for blackberries or a mix of berries, or use thawed frozen berries if fresh ones aren't in season. Texture shifts slightly but the structure holds.

Make ahead and storage

Keep unfrosted cupcakes covered at room temperature for up to two days, or freeze for up to a month. Frosted cupcakes stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for four hours, or refrigerate for up to three days (the frosting will firm up in the cold).