Fresh Blackberry Buttercream

My celebration of blackberry season continues with this fantastic buttercream recipe that highlights this delectable fruit that grows everywhere here in the Seattle area. The picture above features this frosting on a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake, cored and filled with a tart blackberry filling, which is a great contrast to the sweet, sweet buttercream.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
  • 1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice
  • 3/4 cup Fresh Blackberries
  • Approximately 4 cups Powdered Sugar*

*The volume of powdered sugar needed to get this to a good consistency for piping will depend on just how softened your butter is and how juicy your berries are, so follow your instincts.

Directions

  1. In a large bowl or stand mixer, blend together butter, lemon juice, and blackberries.
  2. DON’T PANIC! The fat in the butter and the juice in the berries will not really combine until you start adding the sugar. Keep calm and carry on!
  3. Add powdered sugar one cup or less at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition, until the mixture is a proper consistency for piping.
  4. Enjoy on your favorite cake, cupcake, or in a graham cracker sandwich for a quick, sweet treat!

Blackberry Crêpes

It’s blackberry season here in the Pacific Northwest! Hooray! When you return from berry picking with purple fingers and a few scratches, and you’re looking for a quick recipe that makes the most of your toil, this is just the ticket.

Ingredients

Crêpes

  • 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1-1/2 cups Whole Milk
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt

Filling

  • 4 cups Fresh Blackberries
  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 2 tbsp. Corn Starch
  • 2 tbsp. Butter

 

  • Powdered Sugar to garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to warming temperature (170 – 180 degrees) and insert a heat-proof plate.
  2. Lightly oil a skillet with rounded sides* and place over medium heat.
  3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, blend together flour, milk, eggs, oil, and salt until completely combined and smooth.
  4. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter into hot, oiled skillet.
  5. Immediately lift skillet and tilt in a circular motion to distribute batter as widely, thinly, and evenly as possible across the bottom of the pan.
  6. Return the skillet to the heat.
  7. When the top of the batter is no longer shiny throughout, carefully insert a thin spatula underneath and flip.
  8. Cook for an additional minute, and then turn crêpe out onto warm plate in the oven.
  9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 until all the batter is cooked. (Makes 8 – 10, depending upon the size of your pan and how skillful you are at swirling the batter.)
  10. Rinse blackberries, and place in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat.
  11. In a small bowl, combine sugar and corn starch.
  12. Add corn starch mixture to blackberries and stir to combine.
  13. Cook and stir frequently until blackberry mixture thickens.
  14. Remove blackberry mixture from heat and add butter in small clumps.
  15. Stir until butter is melted and well combined.
  16. Assemble crêpes by spooning a generous scoop of blackberry filling in a long strip onto each crêpe, and folding the sides of the crêpe over the filling.
  17. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

*A 10-inch or larger, light-weight, non-stick pan works great for this. Unless you fancy a sprained wrist, you definitely don’t want to use a heavy cast-iron skillet as you will be lifting the pan and swirling the batter to distribute it evenly.

Sneaky Trick: Wiping the warming skillet with a paper towel to evenly distribute the oil and avoid pooling will help the crêpes brown evenly. If you can hear the batter sizzle when you put it in the pan, you’re using too much oil.

 

A little encouragement…

If you’ve never made crêpes before, I guarantee you that the first one you attempt will be a disappointment. It will be too thick, or stick to the pan, or break, have chunky batter, or even singe. Be brave and keep trying! After a few attempts, you will get the hang of it. And, crêpes are so versatile that you will be making them for every meal before you know it.

REAL Blueberry Muffins

These aren’t cupcakes masquerading as muffins like you might get at the coffee drive-thru.  These are stick-to-your-ribs, real mother-f*cking muffins! The batter stands up strong to hold a LOT of delicious blueberries, and it works great with raspberries or blackberries, too. These muffins are lovely served with a little smear of butter or margarine.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Frozen Blueberries (or even more if you’re feeling brave!)
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. White Sugar
  • 1 tbsp.  Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line a cupcake tin with paper cupcake liners. (This should make about 16 in a standard-sized cupcake tin.)
  3. Put frozen blueberries in a colander and run warm water over them for about thirty seconds, just enough to soften them a bit.  Shake the colander to keep them from sticking together and set aside, allowing to drain.
  4. Combine milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and egg in a large bowl and combine well.
  5. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
  6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix very gently until just combined. (Do NOT use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer for this step.) Your batter should be very lumpy.
  7. Shake blueberries one more time to make sure they’re not sticking together and add to batter.  Mix until JUST distributed throughout batter, but no more. The secret to a great textured muffin is a light hand while mixing!
  8. Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tin until each is about 2/3 full.
  9. Wipe any drips from around the edges of the tin with a damp paper towel. (You will thank me when it’s time to wash the tin!)
  10. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-22 minutes until they begin to brown on the top. (If you’re using fresh berries, reduce the cooking time by about two minutes.)
  11. Remove from tin immediately and transfer to a cooling rack.
  12. Serve while still warm… or hot if you can’t wait!