White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes & My 4th Blogerversary!

January 15, 2013 by 7 Comments

White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

One of my goals of the New Year was to get off the couch and get a life.  Ha! With that said… I may have over done myself just a little bit.  My blogs 4th Anniversary came and went and I was so consumed with my new life and responsibilities, that it took me over a week to bake, frost, take pictures of and blog the cupcakes that I had planned to celebrate my Blogerversary! ACK!

Better late than never, right?

Now that I’ve finally had a moment to breathe and blog… let me tell you about these cupcakes.  The original idea for these came from the liners.  I took a trip to the IKEA in Regensburg to get a new coffee table for my living room.  My little man has started moving around way too much for that little table we had, so a bigger one was in order! While we were there, I spotted these new liners for their one of a kind cupcake pans.  If you haven’t seen them before they make a really tall, skinny cupcake and a big muffin top! I love them for special occasions and novelty cupcakes.  Unfortunately, they don’t have much of a selection in the liner department.  I used this pan a few years ago to make Red Velvet Cupcakes and now again with these blueberry cupcakes.  The blue and purple in the liners are really what inspired the flavors of this cupcake!

My husband decided a white velvet cake would be best but I wanted to incorporate blueberry in some way.  So, I came up with a white velvet cake filled with blueberry compote and then top it all off with blueberry frosting! YUM!  They turned out super delish and the blueberry compote is TO DIE FOR!

But seriously… can you believe it’s been FOUR YEARS of blogging at JavaCupcake!  It’s been an AMAZING journey so for that’s brought me so much joy!  I can’t believe the connections it has made me both professionally and personally.  THANK YOU to everyone who has been so committed to reading my blog and who has stuck by me for four years!  My readers are really truly amazing!!

Here’s to another great year of blogging!!

Enjoy!

White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

Print
White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes

Total Time: 3 hours

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

    White Velvet Cupcakes
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature & cubed
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vinegar
    • Blueberry Compote
  • Use THIS RECIPE
  • Before the compote cools, put it through a strainer. You just want some of the juice to come through, you don't need to strain it all. The goal is have a thick, juicy compote for filling and syrup for the frosting. You only need to do this step if using the compote for this recipe.
    • Blueberry Frosting
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1lb powdered sugar
  • 3 Tbsp blueberry syrup from the compote
  • 1 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • Wilton food dye gel in purple (optional)
  • Purple and blue sugar sprinkles
  • Fresh blueberries for garnish

Instructions

    White Velvet Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla and 1/4 cup milk.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the sugar.
  4. Add the cubed butter and 1/2 cup milk and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
  5. Add the egg mixture in 4 parts and mix on medium-low after each addition until just incorporated.
  6. Fold in the vinegar making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. DO NOT OVER MIX. The batter should still have a few small clumps of butter in it.
  7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Core out the center of each cupcake and fill with blueberry compote.
    11. Blueberry Frosting
  11. Cream together the butter and shortening.
  12. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.
  13. Add the blueberry syrup, heavy cream and salt and mix until combined.
  14. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix frosting on high until light and fluffy.
  15. OPTIONAL: Add a few drops of food coloring dye to enhance the purple of the frosting. Mix until incorporated.
  16. Using a wide open star tip, frost cupcakes and top with sprinkles and a blueberry to garnish
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Filed Under: berry, blueberry, cupcake recipes, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, fruit frosting, fruity cupcakes, recipes, velvet, velvet cupcakes

Blueberry Compote

January 7, 2013 by 2 Comments

Blueberry Compote by JavaCupcake

I’ve made fillings for cupcakes before but never realized what I was making.  HAHA  I guess they’re called compote… which is technically a mixture of water and fruit in a sugar syrup.  D’uh.  That’s what I make.  With that said, I thought I’d start blogging the compotes separately from the cupcakes or scones I’m using it for since it can be used in so many ways!

This blueberry compote would be excellent over ice cream, on pancakes or waffles or even mixed into yogurt! YUM!  You can store it in the refrigerator for about a week so it’ll last for lots of breakfast and desserts! Since you can serve it either warm or cold, the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy!

Print
Blueberry Compote

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: Makes 3-4 cups compote

Ingredients

  • 4 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1 lemon, juiced and zested

Instructions

  1. In a medium pot over medium heat, whisk together the water, lemon juice & zest, sugar and corn starch until all the clumps are out.
  2. Add 1 cup of blueberries and cook for 6-7 minutes or until the mixture has slightly thickened and the blueberry skins have broken open. Stir frequently.
  3. Add the remaining blueberries and cook an addition 5 minutes or until the blueberries have cooked through. Stir occasionally. You don't want the second half of the blueberries to break down as much as the first cup.
  4. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate until use -OR- serve warm over pancakes, waffles, scones, etc.
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Strawberry Lemonade Scones

April 17, 2012 by 6 Comments

I’ve been trying to get into the kitchen at least once a week lately.  I just have to.  Baking is what makes me feel like… me.  So, this morning I whipped up a batch of scones.  Not just any scones though…

Strawberry

Lemonade

Scones

Yah… I said it.  Two of the most perfect fruits paired together to make a sweet and tart delicious breakfast treat!

I actually wanted to make these over the weekend for my family, but when I went to the store to buy the berries…. they were all out!!  How rude of them to be out of berries when I needed them.

I was inspired to make these scones by Munchkin Munchies.  She made a strawberry lemonade scone and it looked so yummy!  But, I’m lazy and didn’t want to make lemon curd to top it with… so I came up with my own recipe to incorporate the lemon more into the dough to create a stronger lemon taste.

I’m thinking they turned out pretty darn amazing!

Enjoy!

Print
Strawberry Lemonade Scones

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6-8 scones, depending on size

Ingredients

    Scones
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • zest from one large lemon or 2 Tbsp
  • 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk

  • 1 heaping cup fresh strawberries, cut into chunks

  • Turbinado sugar or Sugar in the Raw

  • Flour - for kneading and work surface
    • Lemon Glaze
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp milk

Instructions

    Scones
  1. Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly spray with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, press lemon zest into sugar using the back of a spatula. Add the lemon juice, egg yolk and butter milk and whisk until just combined. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter using a fork and your fingers until no large chunks of butter remain.
  4. Add the sugar mixture to the flour, stirring to make a soft dough.
  5. Fold in the strawberries. NOTE: Dough will get sticky with the addition of the berries.
  6. Turn out onto a generously floured board and knead about 15 times or until the outside of the dough is no longer sticky.
  7. Pat/press dough until it's 1 inch thick. Cut into 6-8 squares and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
  8. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges and top turn golden brown.
  9. Remove to wire rack to cool.
    10. Glaze
  10. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, juice and milk.
  11. Drizzle over cooled scones.
  12. Sprinkle more Turbinado sugar over glaze.
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Filed Under: berry, bread and pretzels, breakfast, buttermilk, featured, fruit, lemon, recipes, scones, strawberry

Berry BlogHop: Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

April 1, 2012 by 19 Comments

I’ve had my eye on these empanadas for a while now.  My friend down the street can make empanada dough from scratch and fills them with so many yummy things and then CakeSpy posted a recipe for peanut butter filled empanadas… I’ve been inspired.

So for this months Berry BlogHop I decided I needed to fill empanadas with berries and dunk them in chocolate.

Oh yeah.  OH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Print
Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

41

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 45-50 Empanadas

Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

Flaky crust filled with sweet berries dipped in chocolate... can't get much better than this!

Ingredients

    Empanadas
  • 2 boxes premade pie crust (4 crusts)
  • 2 12oz bags frozen berries (I used bags that contained blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and cherries) NOTE: You can also use fresh berries - you'll need about 4 cups worth.
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 3 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1 egg + 1 Tbsp water (for egg wash)
  • sugar, for dusting
    • Chocolate Ganache
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1/3 cup milk or cream

Instructions

    Empanadas
  1. Bring pie crusts to room temperature.
  2. Preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a large pan, melt the butter on high heat.
  4. Add the berries and sugar to the pan and stir to coat the berries.
  5. Once the berry juice beings to bubble, remove 1/2 cup of the juice and combine it with 2-3 Tbsp of corn starch. Whisk the juice and starch together until all lumps are gone. Add this mixture back into the pan with the berries. Bring to a boil to thicken, stirring often and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  6. Once the mixture has thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, unroll pie crusts. Using a rolling pin, flatten out crust until it's as thin as a dime.
  8. Using a 3in round cookie cutter, cut dough rounds and place on cookie sheet.
  9. Brush egg wash around edges of dough round.
  10. Spoon 1-2 tsp of berry filling into the center of each round. Fold the round over and press the edges closed with a fork.
  11. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.
  12. Cool on wire racks.
    13. Chocolate Ganache
  13. Melt butter and chocolate together on low heat until smooth.
  14. Add the cream and stir until combined and smooth.
  15. Dip cooled empanada in the melted ganache.
  16. Set on wire rack to cool and harden before serving.
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Please be sure to check out what my fabulous co-hosts are bringing to the table:

A little bit of everything ~ Roxana GreenGirl ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
BigFatBaker ~ Erin Meyer ~ @bigfatbaker
Bon à croquer ~ Valerie ~ @valouth
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess.com
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Elephant Eats ~ Amy
Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19
Java Cupcake ~ Betsy Eves ~ @JavaCupcake
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ T.R. ~ @TRCrumbley
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen’s Notebook ~ Elizabeth  Quirino ~ @Mango_Queen
Rico sin Azúcar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar
Simply Reem ~  Reem ~ @Simplyreem
Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna Segrave-Daly ~ @tspbasil
That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!! ~ Liz ~ @thatskinnychick
The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian
Vegan Yack Attack ~ Jackie S. ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma ~ Cindy ~ @vegetarianmamma

Filed Under: berry, blog hop, bread and pretzels, chocolate, desserts, empanadas, recipes