Blackberry Cupcakes with oatmeal crust and blackberry-mandarin curd filling

I love pretty cupcake photos. I could almost say that once I've got that part over with, that my job is half done, but this. of course, would be a lie. I have to make the cupcake first, of course, and then I have to remember how I did it! That is no easy task. I've already made another cupcake since these and I am plotting another that I was hoping to make today...so you can see how the recipes start to jumble in a mind that is not-quite-organized in the first place. I'll do my best, though, Where was I? Oh yes - pretty picture.

And I know, blackberries are not (yet!) in season, but they were on sale. And i was wanting to do a purple-ish cupcake for Lent.  What? You don't celebrate Lent with cupcakes? Hey, I went to Catholic school and I can't recall anyone ever giving up cupcakes for Lent. So there.

I jazzed these puppies up with an oatmeal cookie crust (oatmeal + blackberries = health food!) and a blackberry mandarin curd. Why mandarin? Well, for one, because I live in mandarin country. And two...I was out of lemons. Any citrus would probably have been good (and blood oranges would certainly have followed along with the theme) but just in case Gary Gilligan ever reads this...Mandarins were clearly the superior choice.

And these were a superior cupcake. Pretty, too. Shall we begin, then?

~ Oatmeal Cookie Crust ~

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1 cup regular oats

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine melted butter, flour, oats,and brown sugar in a small bowl. Put about a tablespoon of the oatmeal mixture into each lined muffin tin. Press down with your fingers to make an even crust on the bottom of each one. Bake for about 10 minutes until starting to brown. Let cool before filling with cupcake batter.

~ Blackberry Cupcakes ~

• 2 large (12-ounce? I'm sorry; I didn't check) blackberries, plus one small container (about 24) for garnish)

• 1/3 cup milk

• 6 large egg whites

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 2 1/4 cups flour

• 1 3/4 cup sugar

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Puree blackberries in a food processor or blender. Scrape into a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. With a rubber spatula, work the blackberries through the sieve, leaving seeds behind. Remove 1/4 cup of puree for the frosting. You ought to have a good 3/4 cup of puree left for the cupcakes and 1/2 cup of the puree for the curd. 

• In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, lemon juice, and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add the butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.

• Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until well combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in whatever is remaining. Resist the urge to beat this stuff silly! Fill cupcake liners on top of baked oatmeal crusts ~3/4 full.

• Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake in each pan comes out clean

~ Blackberry-mandarin curd filling ~
1/2 cup reserved blackberry curd
3 large egg yolks
zest of one mandarin orange
1/2 cup mandarin orange juice
6 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

Combine egg yolks, zest, lemon juice and sugar in a sauce pan. Set over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook until the mixture has thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add in butter, one piece at a time. Stir until completely combined. Once completely combined, add in blackberry puree and mix well. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on to the surface of the curd then refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

~ Filling the cupcakes~
Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the blackberry-mandarin curd filling, then replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

There was just no way to take a pretty picture of this, but you get the idea

Whew - almost done! Just the frosting left!

2 sticks butter, softened

1/4 cup blackberry puree

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 - 5 cups powdered sugar

2 -3 tablespoons milk (if needed)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, blend together the butter, puree, vanilla, and salt until mixed well. Add in the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time, and mix into the butter, starting out at a low speed and gradually increasing the speed until it is all nice and incorporated. If the mixture seems too stiff, add milk; if it seems too loose, add more sugar. I like a consistency that will pipe well though a pastry tube, but you can just spread it on with a butter knife or spatula too. No worries.

Pipe the frosting onto all of your cupcakes and then garnish as desired - I used clear edible glitter and a fresh blackberry on the top of each one (you do want to have your garnish give a clue as to what is inside the cupcakes. Although, in this case, I guess the oatmeal cookie bottom is a complete surprise. Oh well. This was two weeks ago, people! I've moved on. 

I do hope you have enjoyed reading along, though!

They're coming to get you, Barbara...with all of their antioxidants!

This was the runner-up for the cover photo, but I still really liked it. Lopsidedness and all.
You should see me pick out a Christmas tree!

Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes

If you like to bake and your circle of acquaintances knows this, the inevitable is going to happen.

"Hey, I have a birthday/bridal shower/World of Warcraft...um...whatever/bake sale/Mary Kay party/Art Show (I need to stop but I am having fun with this)...Can you make some cupcakes?"

Hapless Baker - "Sure, what kind would you like?"

Person - "Oh, whatever you think."

SO not helpful. Not at all. You might not like what I like. I might not like what you like. I just want to make it well and make you happy and how am I to know that you can't actually eat any fruit or that you only like whipped cream frosting but it has to be non-dairy and that you're allergic to nuts and oh one person is vegan so just leave the eggs out of that one, all right? 

I guess I'm begging for communication. Goodness knows I am learning enough about everyone and their second cousins on FB so one would think an allergy would be an easy addition to normal conversation.

Actually, nothing of the sort happened with these cupcakes. These were for a friend, and it was her birthday, and I offered to make cupcakes. While she did start off with, "oh...whatever" - I do know her a little better than that so with some poking I got enough to go off and I think she liked them. I dunno. Haven't seen her since.

Making this all about me for a moment, I have let the idea of a cheesecake cupcake flit across my mind a few times, but the truth is, I just don't love cheesecake all that much so it's not high on my list. I do like cherries but I like them really really tart. However, it seems like most people are fans of the stuff, it would be easy to make and eat and is happy and festive for a birthday. With teenagers. 

And they are good. I loved the graham cracker crust and the mildness of the graham cake with the cream cheese and cherries combined in the filling, and then on top as well. Sweet, nutty, tart, creamy - I do think they were lovely and I think I need to reevaluate my cheesecake position.

So, I do hope they went over well. Happy birthday, Niki! We love you and miss you very much.

On to the cupcakes!

~ Graham Cupcakes ~

For graham bottom:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter, salted

1/4 cup sugar

For cupcakes:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup whole milk

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners. Set aside 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs for garnishing at the very end. I just figured I'd mention it now since you have them out and everything already. All right. Moving on...

In a small bowl, combine the 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1/4 cup sugar, mixing until crumbly. Press a small amount into the bottom of each muffin cup, dividing the total evenly, and press down with your fingers to form a smooth(ish) bottom layer. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and let cool before filling with cupcake batter.

Crispy graham cracker bottoms - please don't skip this step

Cupcakes now:

Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed. Add the sugars and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and mix again.

Combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt into a small bowl. Add in about half of the dry mixture into the butter mixture and stir until combined. Add in the milk and mix well. Finish with the rest of the flour mixture and mix just until combined. 

 Scoop the batter into the muffin cups (the ones you already have the graham cracker crust baked into, remember?) and bake at 350 for about 15 - 18 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tins for 2 minutes or so, then remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

~ Cherry Filling & Topping ~ 

12 ounces sweet or sour cherries, pitted (frozen is fine)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (you can add more or less depending on how sweet your cherries are. So taste for sweetness, but please do that well before the whole "bring to a boil" step, okay?)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Place all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, cook it for an additional one to two minutes then remove from heat. Cool completely.

~ Cream Cheese Filling & Frosting ~

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy and fully combined. Beat in the powdered sugar, lime juice and lime zest, and salt, and beat until mixed together and the consistency you want (it's not going to be as stiff as a regular buttercream, and neither should it be). Set aside about a cup's worth to fill the cupcakes; the rest will be for the frosting.

Ready for assembly? You're almost done, really.

~ Filling the cupcakes ~
Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling, top with about a tablespoon of the cherry filling, then replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

~ Frosting the cupcakes ~
Using a pastry bag fitted with the large round tip, or just a recloseable plastic baggie with the tip cut off, pipe a few rounds of frosting around the top of each cupcake. Basically, you're making a nest for the cherry filling. It doesn't have to be beautiful; mine certainly wasn't. Cover the edges of the cupcake and build up the frosting sides high enough to hold the cherries in. Spoon a bit of the cherry filling into each nest. If desired, sprinkle the reserved graham cracker crumbs (remember those?) around the outside of the cupcakes.  There. Done. Because of the dairy content of these, store them in the refrigerator but try to let them come to about room temperature before serving.

Man, this thing looks ugly. Tastes good, though. This is just so you can see the truth of what you're getting.

Which is why we keep some things that are inside us, well, inside us. 

King Cake Cupcakes

Filling shot. These cupcakes were at the warm side of room temperature, and so were exceptionally gooey.

Happy Mardi Gras, all y'all! I wonder, sometimes, if the fact that I'm in California means that I have to eventually turn in my Southerner card. I still think wistfully of Mobile, Alabama as my real home, regardless of how long it's been since I've lived or even visited there. And despite the fact that there are (count them) four different kinds of chicken sausage in my freezer and both chevre and marinated beets in my fridge and at least 6 bottles of mineral water in my pantry. I'm still no Californian - I just live here.

And you do realize that Mobile has the oldest recorded celebration of Mardi Gras in this country, don't you (c'est vrai - look it up)? Chew on that, New Orleans!

Or, chew on this (segue! segue!) - I've made (and eaten) my share of King Cakes and I thought it would be fun to make a cupcake that is (loosely) based on that idea. What we have here is a cinnamon cupcake with an almond crust, filled with a cream cheese filling and topped with an almond buttercream. It's actually pretty simple, especially for me. And it's darn tasty. But no, it's not exactly like a king cake (almond?!?!). For one thing, no one actually likes to eat king cake (snerk). It's usually really dry and not that sweet. The reason you eat a king cake is that you want to get the weird looking plastic baby that is hidden inside (tucked in after the fact, not baked in. That would be strange even for us). Getting the baby means either that you are king for the day or that you need to provide the king cake next year. These cupcakes have no baby hidden in them, simply because the folks out here would be wildly startled to find a creepy plastic baby in their baked goods. Or they'd choke on it. And since I'm taking many of these to work, that would not be career-enhancing.

Anyhow, people eat the king cake to get to the baby, and then enjoy the really good food. Jambalaya! Gumbo! Muffalettas! Po' boys! Yum! I plan to make some jambalaya myself...with my portobello-swiss chicken sausage...kidding! To the cupcakes...and laissez les bon temps rouler!

King Cake Cupcakes

makes about 30 cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup and one 6-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.

~ Almond Crust ~
2 cups ground almonds (coarsely ground in food processor; see photo below)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Press a bit more than a tablespoon's worth of the mixture into each cupcake liner, pressing down with your clean fingers to make a smooth, even layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 6 - 7 minutes or until the crusts are just starting to brown. Use your senses here - if you can smell the nuts, these are probably ready. If you smell burning, you're done. Start over. Set the crusts aside to cool while you make the batter.

Ground about like this. You're not making almond meal or anything.

Check out my helper!

He did a fine job, too.

This is about the color you're looking for.

Wow, I said there wouldn't be an process photos last blog and there weren't - I guess I am making up for it now. Anyways...

~ Cinnamon Cupcakes ~

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat just until butter melts; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick enough for the batter to fall in a heavy ribbon when the beater is lifted, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and beat just until blended. Beat in the milk-butter mixture just until blended. Divide batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. While cupcakes are cooling, prepare the cream cheese filling.

~ Cream Cheese Filling ~
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 - 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat together the cream cheese and butter until well-combined. Add in the vanilla and salt and mix in. A cup at a time, beat in the powdered sugar. You are aiming for a not to sweet mixture that is nowhere near stiff enough to pipe on a cupcake ('cause it's a filling, not a frosting, see?). Three cups will probably do it. You can go for four if you're nervous.

~ Filling the cupcakes ~

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling, then replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

Don't worry if your cupcake runneth over. You're going to be covering all this with frosting.

~ Almond Frosting ~

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/8 - 1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 - 9 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter in an electric stand mixture until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts and the salt, and beat in until well-combined. Add in the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, adding in the milk as needed for consistency. You are going for a frosting that is stiff enough to pipe on but is still nice and smooth and creamy.

Pipe or spread on the frosting onto the filled cupcakes. If desired, garnish in Mardi Gras style (purple, gold, and green sprinkles - or edible glitter as I used). Now eat up, and share with your friends!

The filling has firmed up a little in this shot.

This picture makes me ready for Lent. Eat up! The Lord is just waiting for Wednesday!