The fluffiest, berry-studded vanilla sponge cakes with an equally berrylicious purple frosting swirled on top! These blackberry cupcakes are light, sweet and oh so tasty.
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Blackberry season here in the UK usually equals crumbles and pies galore. These berries definitely shine when cooked to gooey perfection in a warm dessert! But this year I wanted to try something a little different. Armed with a tubful of fresh blackberries from the garden, I set out to incorporate them into one of my favourite things to bake – cupcakes! These blackberry cupcakes not only have fresh blackberry juice mixed into the smooth buttercream frosting, they’re baked into the cakes themselves too. Pleasingly purple and fun to decorate, these sweet little cakes are as always completely gluten free (yet soft, fluffy and delicious as ever!).
How to make blackberry cupcakes
The gluten free cupcake base is a foolproof vanilla sponge recipe with a few simple additions. I add a little Greek yoghurt which I find keeps the cake extra moist and fluffy. Then of course, the chopped fresh blackberries. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Greek yoghurt
- Gluten free plain flour (I use Dove’s Farm)
- Xanthan gum, baking powder and salt
- Fresh blackberries
I like to mix everything up using an electric stand mixer, but you can totally mix by hand too. My top tips are to beat the butter and sugar really well before adding the remaining ingredients (it should look pale and fluffy), and to fold gently until just combined when adding the flour.
Making the blackberry buttercream frosting
This pretty purple frosting gets its colour from you guessed it… more blackberries! Butter, icing sugar and fresh pureed blackberries are beaten together with an electric hand whisk. The result is a sweet and creamy berry-infused topping for your delicious cakes. If preferred, you can make the frosting ahead and store it in the fridge for up to a week. You may need to allow it to come to room temperature before piping through a nozzle.
How do you get the seeds out of blackberries?
To make a smooth and seedless blackberry puree, fresh blackberries are first blitzed in a food processor or blender. Then you just need to grab a sieve an pass the liquid through. This is the part you’ll want to keep for your blackberry frosting (discard the pulp and seeds that are left in the sieve).
Can I use frozen blackberries?
Fresh or defrosted blackberries are preferable for these cupcakes as you’ll want to chop them before adding to the cake batter. For the frosting, it’ll also be easier to blend berries into a puree if they’re not frozen. Plus if you’d like to decorate the cakes with extra berries on top, you’ll need fresh ones for that!
How long will blackberry cupcakes keep?
They should keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
I hope you enjoy these gluten free blackberry filled cakes. The combination of moist vanilla sponge and fresh blackberry buttercream really is worth tasting for yourself! If you bake these at home, don’t forget to let me know how you got on by leaving a comment and rating below. You can also tag me in photos of your creations on Instagram @BlueSkyEating. Enjoy! 🙂
More tasty gluten free cakes to try
Nutella filled cupcakes with Nutella buttercream
White chocolate and strawberry cheesecake cupcakes
Apple and cinnamon traybake cake
Blackberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 170 g gluten free plain flour (I use Doves Farm)
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour blend already contains xanthan gum)
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 165 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 190 g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 24 large fresh blackberries
For the frosting and decoration:
- 160 g fresh blackberries
- 140 g unsalted butter
- 560 g icing sugar
- 12 extra blackberries (for decoration – optional)
Instructions
Make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake cases.
- Chop the blackberries into quarters and set aside.
- Sieve the gluten free flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the xanthan gum, baking powder and salt and whisk everything together until well combined.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat on a high speed until pale and fluffy – about 4 minutes.
- Add one egg followed by one tbsp of the flour mixture and mix on a medium speed until combined. Repeat with the two remaining eggs.
- Add the Greek yoghurt and vanilla extract and mix again.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and mix on a low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides if necessary.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the cupcake cases. Each case should be about 3/4 of the way full.
- Push 8 pieces of the chopped blackberry into each of the cupcakes (to equal 2 whole blackberries per cupcake). As the batter is quite thick, you might need to use a small spoon or knife to make pockets in the batter that you can easily push the pieces into. Try to distribute the blackberry pieces throughout the batter, with some nearer the top and some nearer the bottom.
- Bake for around 20 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centre of a cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Leave to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting:
- Add the blackberries to a blender or food processor and blitz into a puree.
- Push the puree through a sieve, discarding the pulp/seeds and keeping the liquid.
- Using an electric mixer or whisk, beat the butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Sieve in approx 1/4 of the icing sugar at a time, beating with the electric whisk after each addition. Once you've added about 3/4 of the icing sugar, pour in the blackberry juice and beat again to combine. Then add the remaining icing sugar and mix until everything is completely combined and smooth.
- Using a piping bag and nozzle of your choice (I used a Wilton 1M), pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.
- Add an extra blackberry on top of each cake for decoration (optional!).
Please note that nutritional information is based on estimated quantities and therefore not always 100% accurate.
These are beautiful! I can’t wait to make them!
These are light, fluffy, and delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!
Beautiful cupcakes! Love the blackberry flavor.
Love the blackberry buttercream icing! Such a pretty color!
Definitely will be making these again for my grandpa’s birthday. Blackberries are his favorite and these are so scrumptious!
So very scrumptious!
These are so beautiful. A great flavour combination 🙂