Chocolate Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream
Aren’t y’all glad it’s blackberry season?
These chocolate cupcakes are made with oil instead of butter, and they use low fat buttermilk to keep them extra moist. But this isn’t a health advertisement–the buttercream frosting more than makes up for the lack of butter in the cupcakes. I only point it out because some of you have asked for lighter desserts. If buttercream is too rich for you, I would suggest making your own lighter frosting for these chocolate cupcakes–let me know what you come up with.
Update: I have since updated the chocolate cupcake recipe and it no longer contains buttermilk.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream
Makes 4 cupcakes.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes”
- 2 ½ ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 6 tablespoons unbleached flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ + ⅛ teaspoon vanilla
For the buttercream:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 drop almond extract
- handful clean blackberries (12-15 berries)
- ¼ teaspoon lime zest
- lime juice, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Place 4 paper liners along the outside edge of a cupcake pan.
- Add the chocolate and canola oil to a medium bowl. Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals. Stir well to ensure every last bit of chocolate melts. Let cool slightly. Once cool, add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until blended. Add the egg and whisk to combine.
- Mix the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl. Add to the chocolate mixture and stir until blended.
- Divide between the cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
- To make the buttercream, beat together with an electric mixer the butter, almond extract and lime zest. Add the powdered sugar and beat well. Add the blackberries and beat vigorously to break up the berries. (If you don’t enjoy the crunchy seeds, mash the berries in a small bowl and strain before adding to the buttercream). Add lime juice to taste to bring out the sweetness of the berries. In my opinion, the frosting tastes best if it’s allowed to chill in the fridge for a few hours before being spread on the cupcakes.
I love what lime does for fresh berries. Looks like a winner!
Incidentally, in this neck of the woods (NW Kansas) what most folks consider ‘blackberries’ are actually nightshade. The old Volga Germans call ‘em ‘Schwartzbeeren’. Not near as tasty imho.
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I love Blackberry Buttercream, but have never seen it made with the berries left in! Thanks for sharing!
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The color of that frosting is beautiful. My little girl loves blackberries so much. We hardly get a chance to eat them because she’ll polish off the entire box herself.
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That blackberry frosting looks incredibly divine!
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I made these…soooooo good!! Thanks!
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[...] been tinkering with my chocolate cupcake recipe lately, because my original one, while delicious, made slightly too much batter for 4 cupcake liners. I love the new version [...]
what’s the yield for this recipe? it looks great & i’m thinking about making them. just need to know if i have to double or half the recipe or something.
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