Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Blackberry Filling
& Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

My boyfriend (being the special guy that he is) was given free range to choose whatever cupcake flavor he wanted for his birthday. Anything his little heart desired… After many ridiculous suggestions mostly involving ice cream cones, he finally decided on chocolate blackberry.

I quickly got to work trying out various blackberry fillings in order to find the perfect balance between tangy and sweet. My initial attempt at the blackberry filling turned out more like pudding than filling.  I gave it a second chance and was thankful that I did.

The Cupcake:

Instructions:

Bake your favorite batch of “Devil’s food cake” or chocolate cupcakes.  I choose the basic chocolate recipe from VCTOTW but substituted ½ cup of vegan margarine in for the oil.  This resulted in a denser cupcake reminiscent of devil’s food cake.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Tangy Blackberry Filling:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of coarsely chopped frozen blackberries 
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp of cornstarch
• ½ cup water

Instructions:

1. Bring blackberries to boil in a saucepan
2. Add sugar and continue to simmer until reduced
3. In a separate cup mix cornstarch with a few tablespoons of water
4. Add mixture to fruit and stir constantly for a minute or two.
5. Remove from heat and set aside to cool

With Filling

The Frosting:

• Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of blackberry mixture to your favorite buttercream recipe (You may need to add more sugar to compensate for the added moisture)
• Add a dash of dark purple food coloring to deepen the color

The Final Product:

1. Core out the centers of your cupcakes
2. Place blackberry filling in center and recover with cupcake middle
3. Frost cupcakes with blackberry buttercream icing
4. Top with a fresh blackberry, jelly belly or sprinkles

Final Product

These cupcakes were the perfect balance between sweet chocolaty cake and tangy fruit filling.  The birthday boy ended up having the time of his life and the cupcakes were a huge hit.

Do you take cupcake requests for special occasions? Or just let creativity do its thing?

 Special Thanks to Life of A Caterpillar for the pink plates

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