Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These cupcakes are a great summer dessert.  They are full of blueberries and the cream cheese frosting adds a richness that makes these cupcakes resemble cheesecake.  This recipe makes 24 cupcakes.  You can half this recipe to make 12 if you would like.  

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 3/4 cups cake flour 

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons to toss with blueberries

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp., cut in tablespoons

4 eggs

1 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1)  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.  In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand mixer, combine the flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder on low speed until well combined.  Add the pieces of butter and mix until combined.  

2)  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.  With the mixer on medium speed, add egg mixture in 3 parts.  Beat the batter until ingredients are thoroughly combined.

3) In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with the 2 tablespoons of flour to coat.  This prevents the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the cupcake.  Then gently fold in the blueberries to the batter using a rubber spatula.

4) Scoop the batter evenly into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full.  Bake about 18-22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.  Check for doneness buy sticking a toothpick in the center.  If it comes out mostly clean, they are done.  

   

5) LET CUPCAKES COOL COMPLETELY ON A WIRE RACK.  It is important to be patient!  If you start icing your cupcakes while they are still warm the icing will melt and you have a mess.

For the Frosting:

1) Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2) With mixer on low, slowly add the powdered sugar until well incorporated and smooth.  Add vanilla and mix to combine.  Using a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off, or a piping bag, pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcake.  Top with a blueberry if you want.

Enjoy!