bursting blueberry lime cupcakes
Blackberry lime and blueberry lemon are heavenly matches, so why not blueberry lime? Cue these divinely soft, slightly zesty, perfectly sweet Bursting Blueberry Lime Cupcakes.
Summer dessert of champions? Check.
I got all sorts of weird comments regarding the hue of these cupcakes. Mom said they looked moldy and I’d better frost them ASAP to prevent anyone thinking I was vouching for rotten food. Rude. Some coworkers asked if I put matcha in the batter. Also rude. Matcha is a chartreuse powdered rendition of Beelzebub himself.
I at first planned a blueberry cinnamon shindig, but somehow looped into citrus land from the flavor interstate. No regrets here. I can’t believe more people aren’t aboard the lime and blueberry ship. Slightly different in its tang than the more favored blueberry lemon, yet amazing for a summery and not-as-heavy treat.
Blueberry jam and fresh blueberries ripple the vanilla cake batter for a lovely indigo hue. Double up on the blueberry lime bonanza with a buttercream colored with freeze-dried berries and jazzed with the juice of those limes you used for the zest. No waste here!
As with my Honey Glaze Earl Grey Lavender Lemon Cake, I started by sifting the lime zest with the white sugar. Incorporating the zest is much smoother when it has granules to hold onto – this way, it won’t clump and give you a mouthful of lime in one bite and nothing the next.
Then, as with other cakes, cream the butter and sugars until floof. Add the eggs one at a time, and finish with a touch of vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Bring your buttermilk to the party along with your bowl of dry stuff. To the butter mixture, pour half the buttermilk and beat until incorporated, then half of the flour. Half the buttermilk, half the flour. Halt your maniacal whipping hands when you cannot see any more flour streaks. No overmixing! Else you batter will be stiffer than my legs after a long run.
Toss some fresh blueberries with a couple teaspoons of flour – this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cakes. Fold the blueberries and the jam into the batter until fairly evenly distributed.
FYI – you don’t have to use the jam. Fresh blueberries are enough. I just love the swirling pattern jam offers and the extra bite of berry.
Line a muffin tin with liners, or spray well with oil. Divide the batter equally amongst the 12 crevices. Bake 30-35 minutes until no longer wiggly.
Take a looksie at those beauties. The color fascinates me: a teal shade emerges. I find it rather pretty.
I admittedly never had luck with buttercreams containing fruit purees or jams. The attempts reduce to a puddle of soupy sugar. This time around, I turned to freeze-dried blueberries as the hero of the hour. When ground to a fine powder, the berries act almost like a food dye without the liquified weirdness.
To make the buttercream, all you need other than your ground up berries is powdered sugar, butter, some lime juice, some heavy whipping cream, and a touch of vanilla. Start with 1 tablespoon each of lime juice and whipping cream and add more if a stronger lime tinge or an airier texture is desired.
I own some piping tips and bags, so I decided to try my hand for the first time at a more mindful frosting approach. I’m not fantastic. I’ll get there. If you lack the equipment, just smear a good mountain of frosting on each. Give it a swirl with a spoon. Just as pretty and delicious, I promise.
What do you think – fruitier desserts or chocolatey? I find moods for both, really. Usually when I’ve created a rich indulgence like last week’s Triple Layer Chocolate Explosion Cake, I crave something a bit fresher. These cupcakes would certainly transport well to your backyard 4th of Joolah celebration. Or even if not in your backyard. Whatever the case, these cute little confections feed a crowd and look stunning on a platter with a floral arrangement and a bowl of blueberries to boot.
Be sure to grill up some Black Bean Chili Dogs for the main course. Can’t go wrong there either, and leftover chili is stellar for lunch the next day.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Into the blueberry and citrus parade? Try the Swirled Blueberry Lemon Custard Tart next!
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp lime zest
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cup + 2 tsp all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup blueberry jam
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
blueberry lime buttercream
- 1/3 cup freeze-dried blueberries
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1-2 tbsp lime juice
- 1-2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake tins, or spray generously with butter or oil.
- In a small bowl, sift together the lime zest and white sugar. Add to a larger bowl along with the butter and brown sugar. Cream for 2-3 minutes with a hand or stand mixer. Blitz in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, then add vanilla and beat.
- In a separate bowl, sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add half of the buttermilk to the butter mixture and beat; then, add half of the flour mixture and whip until just combined. Repeat alternating pattern with the other half of the buttermilk and the flour mix, beating until the last streak of flour is incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Toss blueberries with 2 tsp flour. With a spatula, fold blueberries and blueberry jam into the batter.
- Spoon batter evenly into the cupcake tins. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the center is just set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the cupcake tin for 10 minutes, then move cakes to a wire rack. Cool completely.
- When cooled, it's time to frost those babies! In a food processor, blitz the freeze dried blueberries into a fine powder. This will yield about 3 tbsp of powder. In a bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, blueberry powder, lime juice, whipping cream, and vanilla. Start with 1 tablespoon each of lime juice and cream and adjust to taste and texture. The buttercream should be fluffy and thick.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. Be as fancy as you wish!
