Scary Blackberry Blossom Cupcakes
Written by Jamie on November 05, 2011Blackberries are the center piece of this sinister halloween themed treat. The cupcake is made with a spooky blackberry puree, filled with a hair-raising blackberry lime curd, and topped with a frightful lime frosting, along with eerie blackberry puree and creepy goji berries. These cupcakes are almost too scary to eat. Be warned!!
The inspiration behind this dessert is a bluegrass traditional, Blackberry Blossom. My introduction to this legendary tune is none other than the String Cheese Incident. Here is a particularly juicy version that pairs well with this terrifying treat.
SPOOKY BLACKBERRY CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
8 large egg yolks (room temperature)
1/3 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
4 cups sifted cake flour
2 cup sugar
2 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
24 oz frozen bag of blackberries or four 6oz boxes fresh blackberries
16 tbs unsalted butter (room temperature/softened)
goji berries (I bought .15 lb from Whole Food Bulk section)
FRIGHTFUL LIME ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM INGREDIENTS
Meringue
5 egg whites
pinch salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (if not using a copper bowl)
2 ounces (1/4 cup) caster sugar
Syrup
8 ounces (1 cup) caster sugar
1/4 cup water
Butter, 1 lb., unsalted, and soft
3 tbsp lime zest
1 tsp lime juice, optional
HAIR-RAISING BLACKBERRY LIME CURD INGREDIENTS
300g or 11oz blackberries, fresh or frozen
10 medium sized eggs
150g or 10 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
150g or 2/3 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp lime zest
2 tsp lime juice
DIRECTIONS
- Curd
- Put the blackberries in a pan with 100ml water.
- Bring this to the boil and then turn it down to a simmer
- Cook them for 10 minutes until the berries have softened.
- Take them off the heat and sieve everything into a large bowl, discarding any seeds, to make a smooth sauce.
- Add 5 whole eggs and 5 egg yolks into a heavy-based pan and give them a good stir to break up the yolks.
- Use the 5 egg whites for the frosting
- Stir in the caster sugar and juice from the lime.
- Add the butter and then put this over a low heat.
- Add the blackberry sauce and cook this mixture over a low heat stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
- It’s ready when it coats the back of the spoon thickly.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lime zest
- Put the curd into a bowl for the fridge
- Place wax paper over the top to prevent skin from forming
- Put the blackberries in a pan with 100ml water.
- Puree
- Place defrosted or fresh blackberries in the blender, and puree
- Strain mixture through a fine sieve, removing all seeds
- They can be unpleasant to chew in a baked good
- Divide mixture into:
- 1 cup for cupcake batter
- 1/4 cup for decoration
- Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Place 24 foil liners into muffin tins.
- In a medium bowl lightly combine
- the yolks
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend.
- Add the butter and 1 cup blackberry puree.
- Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Increase to medium speed (high if using hand mixer) and beat for 1.5 minutes to develop cake’s structure.
- Scrape down sides.
- Gradually add egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Scrape down sides.
- Fill prepared muffin liners with batter, about 1/2 to 2/3 full
- Bake for 22-27 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean
- Rotate pans once
- When baking is complete, the cupcake should spring back when pressed lightly in the center.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the muffin tins for about 10 minutes
- Frosting
- Follow directions for the Jameson italian meringue buttercream recipe, included with the Car Bomb Cupcakes recipe.
- Substitute the lime zest and lime juice (optional) for the Jameson
- Assembly
- Fill a pastry bag or plastic squeeze bottle with the curd
- I used the bismark tip
- Using an apple corer or knife, cut a nickel sized cylinder from the cupcake and fiil each cupcake with curd
- Fill a pastry bag with frosting and pipe it onto the cakes
- Fill a pastry bag or squeeze bottle with the remaining ¼ cup of blackberry puree
- Drizzle the puree onto the frosting haphazardly
- Place a few goji berries on top of each cupcake
- The goji’s look like scary bugs crawling through the purple goo!
- Fill a pastry bag or plastic squeeze bottle with the curd
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