Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 24-30 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes; room temperature
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries plus 2 tablespoons flour

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract*

Directions:

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl before each addition. Beat the batter until ingredients are thoroughly combined, but do not overbeat.
4. In a medium bowl, gently toss the blueberries with 2 tablespoons of flour, the carefully fold the blueberries in the batter.
4. Use a large scoop to divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream together, cream cheese and butter until well combined.
2. With the mixer of low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Add vanilla and mix to combine. Pipe cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. If desired, garnish cupcakes with a fresh blueberry.

Notes:

1. Clear vanilla extract was used in the cream cheese frosting recipe to maintain a bright white color. Feel free to substitute pure vanilla extract in its place.
2. I used the giant round tip from Bake it Pretty to frost the cupcakes. You can view my piping video tutorial within this post.
3. Cake recipe is slightly adapted from Billy’s Vanilla Cupcakes via Martha Stewart.