Blackberry and Honey Cupcakes

Swap out the sugar for honey to make these blackberry and honey cupcakes, where you will find berry goodness baked in the cupcake, as well as mixed into the frosting.

I love fruit desserts and baking with fruit. Fruit gives a cake such wonderful flavors and colors naturally, going beyond the sugar tasting cakes we seem to find in mass marketed cakes.

With blackberries in season, they are bursting with flavor. And they were calling my name to feature them in a delicious and moist blackberry cupcake!

Baking with honey

I’ve always loved honey, from it’s golden color to it’s silky sweetness. I’ve used it off and on in my baking, but I never thought much of it until I sat at Camp Blogaway and learned about the wonderous benefits of honey from the National Honey Board.

Honey is a humectant and keeps your baked goods moist, as well as your skin when used in lotions and soaps. When used in cooking, it obviously adds sweetness, but it also reduces sourness and bitterness.

Honey is a fabulous cough suppressant and a great energy booster. Honey also has an infinite shelf-life. Just because the forgotten honey in the cupboard has crystalized, it is still edible. You just need to melt it to bring it back to liquid form.

While at camp, I also tasted different varieties of honey. From the light and mild orange blossom to the dark and intense avocado. My favorite was the blueberry honey. You can find what varieties are in your area here.

I brought home honey sticks for my kids to sample and they happily sipped up these little straws filled with golden honey. “Can we have more???”

But, what really got my head spinning at camp was the basic formula for substituting honey in my baked goods.

For every cup of honey you add to replace a cup of sugar, reduce the liquid in your recipe by ¼ cup, add ½ teaspoon baking soda (to neutralize the acid in honey) and reduce the baking temperature by 25ºF.

Woah.

Life-changing.

Why this recipe is so awesome

My niece requested some cupcakes for her purple-themed bridal shower, so I made these mini sized blackberry cupcakes. I also decided to make these cupcakes with honey, instead of sugar.

Both the cupcake and the frosting are made with sweet blackberries, giving them both a deep purple color. They are mildly sweet, with a hint of amaretto and plenty of sweet blackberries in the cupcake.

I used honey to sweeten both the cupcake and the frosting, so it really is very different from what I have baked and frosted before. I really loved the sweetness of the honey.

They are not only beautiful, but fruity and really delicious. And of course, you bake these as mini cupcakes or regular sized versions!

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Ingredients you need

• Blackberries: Blackberries are used both in the cupcake and in the frosting. I also add a fresh blackberry on top of each cupcake. For the cupcake and frosting, you can use frozen blackberries. But if you are going to top the cupcakes with blackberries, use fresh.
• Cream cheese: The frosting is made with a combination of cream cheese and butter. If you do not like cream cheese, you can substitute with butter.
• Butter: In this recipe, the cupcakes are baked using unsalted butter. If you want to bake with olive oil, substitute with 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. The other half of the butter in this recipe is used for the frosting.
• Honey: Be picky about your honey! There are a lot of brands selling honey, but it has been mixed with corn syrup. Read labels and try to use local honey. Honey comes in flavors, too, depending on the flowers they pollinated. So if you are lucky and can use blackberry honey, even better!
• Amaretto: This is a sweet liqueur that is used in both the frosting and in the batter. If you do not want alcohol, substitute with a little fruit juice.
• Pantry staples: all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract
• Eggs

Step-by-step directions

1. Prepare the frosting first to allow to chill at least 2-4 hours until ready to use. Place 8 oz blackberries in a food processor with a metal blade. Pulse until blackberries are puréed and smooth.

2. Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour blackberry purée into the strainer. Using a rubber spatula, press the blackberry purée into the mesh. The juice will accumulate underneath the mesh, leaving the seeds on top. Use the rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the mesh so the juice will fall into the bowl. Continue pressing the blackberries until all of the juice is collected into the bowl, leaving mostly the seeds behind.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk together cream cheese and ½ cup butter until smooth and fluffy. Whisk in ½ cup honey and 2 TBS amaretto until fully incorporated.

4. Slowly whisk in the strained blackberry purée and whip until completely mixed in together. Transfer frosting to a pastry bag and refrigerate until ready to use.

5. For the Cupcakes: In a small pot over low heat combine remaining ¾ cup honey, 8 oz blackberries and heat until honey is softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and using an immersion blender, purée blackberries with the honey.

6. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

7. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together remaining ½ cup butter, 2 TBS Amaretto and vanilla until fluffy. Whip eggs into the butter, one at a time.

8. Alternate adding in the flour mixture with the blackberry mixture, until just combined, scraping down sides of the bowl between mixes.

9. Line two 24-cup MINI MUFFIN PAN with liners. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin pans. Bake at 325ºF until edges of the cupcakes are lightly golden, 17-20 minutes.

10. Cool cupcakes completely prior to frosting with chilled frosting. Top each cupcake with 1 blackberry. Refrigerate cupcakes until ready to serve.

Recipe tips and FAQs

I hope I convinced you to try baking with honey. Remember, it is good inside the cupcake as well as on top. I really loved the flavor of the blackberry honey frosting. Not so tooth-cracking-sweet as normal sugar laden frosting!

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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