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A blackberry cupcake on a plate with a forkful cut away to reveal berries in the centre of the cake
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5 from 7 votes

Blackberry Cupcakes

Blackberry filled vanilla cupcakes with a blackberry buttercream frosting - gluten free!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, British, European
Keyword Baking, Blackberry, Cupcakes, Gluten free cake
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 12 cupcakes
Calories 513kcal

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!).