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    • Jun 24, 2021

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

I was looking for a recipe to make for Father's Day, since my father-in-law LOVES anything lemon. I had a bunch of blueberries on hand so I figured I'd combine the two flavors! I stumbled upon this Blueberry Lemon Cake recipe from a blog called The View From Great Island. I was going to make a cake, but then realized I needed separate desserts to give to my dad and to give to my father-in-law, so I went ahead and made this recipe for cupcakes. They were delicious!

I modified the recipe just a tad, I felt it was a little overly complicated and required a lot of different kitchen tools - some of which I didn't have, so I improvised! But these still came out so good. I'm not a huge fan of lemon and I ate a few of these, couldn't help it! They were soft, light, and creamy.


Here's What You Need:

  • 3 cups cake flour (you can use regular flour) + 1 tbsp for blueberry toss if desired

  • 1 Tbsp baking powder

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

  • zest of 1 lemon, peeled with a vegetable peeler (no white pith)

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

  • 3 jumbo or 4 large eggs, at room temperature

  • 1 cup buttermilk

  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

  • 1 pint blueberries (fresh or frozen)

lemon buttercream

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

  • 6 cups confectioner's sugar

  • 6-8 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

  • 1/4 tsp salt

garnish

  • blueberries

  • thyme sprigs (optional)

  • powdered sugar


Here's What To Do:

  • Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners (OR, for cake: grease & flour two 9-inch round cake pans, putting a round of parchment paper at the bottom of each one).

  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

  • Put the sugar and lemon zest into a food processor* and process until moist, pale yellow, and no large pieces of zest remain. This will take under a minute. *(I mixed by hand, and mine still came out fine!).

  • Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the machine as necessary.

  • Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. Beat in the lemon paste, if you’re using it.

  • Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture, and just before it’s completely mixed in, add the buttermilk and lemon juice. Blend until combined, but don’t over-mix. I like to finish by hand to get everything incorporated.

  • Toss your blueberries in 1 tbsp of flour (this will help fresh blueberries not sink to the bottom)

  • Gently fold in the blueberries. I didn’t use quite the whole pint, use however much you like. Then fill each cupcake liner 2/3 of the way full. (OR, if making cake: divide the batter equally between the two prepared pans. Spread out to an even layer.)

  • Bake the cupcakes for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. (If making cake, bake the cakes in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, the top springs back when touched, and a toothpick comes out without any wet batter on it - moist crumbs are fine.)

  • Let the cupcakes or cakes cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove them from the pans and continue to cool completely before frosting.

To Make the Lemon Buttercream:

  • To make the frosting, beat the soft butter, sugar, and salt together, gradually adding enough lemon juice to create a creamy spreadable frosting. If it is too thick, add more lemon juice, and if it is too thin, add a little more sifted sugar.

  • Dust with powdered sugar, frost and decorate as you like.



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