Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

This is a copy of my first ever guest post from yesterday on Coupon Savings in the South:

Hey everyone! I'm Kara from A Dessert a Week, and this post marks a very special milestone in my blogging life! It is my first guest post and this is also my blogiversary post! I knew I had to make something super special for it, and after searching through countless desserts online and in cook books, I found the perfect, easy recipe. These lemon blueberry cupcakes are the perfect way to welcome a celebration, whether it is a blogiversary, a graduation, or the beginning of summer. The frosting has the perfect tang of lemon without being overwhelming, and the juicy blueberries offer the ideal sweet contrast. They were so perfect, in fact, that I actually ate two within the first five minutes. Trying to stay fit is difficult when I am always around so many delicious desserts!

Lately, I’ve been getting into the local food movement. I am a Human Nutrition major, and much emphasis is placed on eating fresh, locally-sourced produce. A fantastic place to go if you are in upstate South Carolina is the Bush-N-Vine. It is located in Filbert, South Carolina and is run by the Hall family. For the past several weeks, I have been picking up buckets of their delicious strawberries to use in recipes such as strawberry lemonade, strawberry soup, and double-crusted strawberry pie. I will have a recipe for the strawberry lemonade up very soon, so be sure to check back. They were fresh out of blueberries, but I did manage to pick up some reasonably priced lemons.

Cupcakes are generally very easy to make, and this recipe was no exception. I beat the sugar, butter, and lemon zest, then added the eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice. I alternated the milk and flour mixture, and then gently folded in the flour-dusted blueberries. I used a standard ice cream scoop to place the batter in the cupcake papers and into the oven they went.

Also, if anyone has any summertime favorites they’d like to see featured on A Dessert a Week, please don’t hesitate to let me know via my Facebook page or through e-mail (kelowman@gmail.com). I love to test out new recipes!

I used to skip the step about flouring fruit before I placed it into cakes or cupcakes, but after having one too many desserts come out where all of the fruit sank to the bottom, I decided to pay attention to that part of the recipe. It works so well!

 The eggs in the above photograph are pale blue/green in color. They came from my nana, which has several different breeds of chicken on her farm, and some lay blue eggs. They are absolutely beautiful in person, and the yolks are a deep orangey yellow hue from their diet. I also have three white Chinese Silkies at my house, but their eggs are way too small to use in baking recipes.

I normally don’t work with cream cheese frosting, so icing these cupcakes was a bit of a challenge for me. Also, I couldn’t find my favorite large star tip, so I had to use a plain tip. Cream cheese frosting doesn’t hold up as well as buttercream frosting, but I got the hang of it. However, you may want to refrigerate the cupcakes as quickly as possible if you are working on an extremely hot day because they may melt just a little bit.

These are my second favorite cupcakes I have ever made, the first being myGanache-Filled Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes. I actually just ate another one while writing this post ;)

Thank you to Shannon for letting me guest post this week on Coupon Savings in the South! If you would like to see more recipes weekly, please check out my Facebook page, A Dessert a Week, and my website, www.adessertaweek.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Barely adapted from Annie’s Eats

Yield: about 16 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcakes:

• ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
• ¾ cup cake flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• Zest of  1 lemon
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• ½ cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, at room temperature
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

For the frosting: 

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Zest of 1 large lemon
• Additional fresh blueberries, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on lowspeed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.
• In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Using a spatula gently fold the berries into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (I used a large plain tip to frost these cupcakes.) Garnish with fresh blueberries.

Chocolate Swirled Marshmallows

Well, this week has been EXTREMELY crazy! I was robbed this past weekend, and I've been extremely stressed about that....However, I DID find time to make these chocolate swirled marshmallows I've been dying to try. I found a recipe from Alton Brown and edited it to my liking. Marshmallows aren't difficult to make, and if you are intimidated by the use of a candy thermometer, don't worry because that doesn't make it any more complicated! 

 The cold water and gelatin mixture looks kind of funky, but don't worry; that's how it is supposed to look

I have a cheap candy thermometer, so mine kept slipping and falling off into the syrup mixture. I eventually had to put on an oven mitt, and hold it in place. It worked though!

The sugar syrup is a yellowish color after heating to 240 degrees.

Be careful when pouring the sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture because it is extremely hot!

My puppy was jealous that my boyfriend got a marshmallow and she didn't!

Ingredients

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Melt the chocolate with about a 1/2 tablespoon of water in the microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring well in between until fully melted (about 6 or 7 times). Drizzle the chocolate over the marshmallow mixture and use a toothpick to swirl into the marshmallows. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.