A Southern Grace: i'll have a blue(berry) christmas without you

December 28, 2011

i'll have a blue(berry) christmas without you

Yum

Well, Christmas is over. Back to the grind.


I hope you each had as lovely a holiday as I, with plenty of rich foods and reminiscing with friends and family.

This latest batch of cupcakes has nothing to do with anything, but I liked the title post that popped into my head and it just blossomed from there. They came about as a last minute choice. I made the brown sugar cupcakes and upon seeing a dusty old bottle of blueberry-flavored schnapps (random!) on the shelf, decided that a blueberry filling and frosting might be a nice addition. They were.



The cupcakes are quite sweet and soft, with a far-from-subtle brown sugar taste. I made the filling by reconstituting dried blueberries I received from Oh! Nuts (they have EVERYTHING!) in hot water and a dash or two of the schnapps. Warning: Take care not to use too much liqueur in the frosting--the blueberry flavor is far from authentic and easily overpowering. If, like most normal people, you don't keep blueberry schnapps on hand, a bit of the pie filling would probably mix in nicely while also supplying a bold blue hue!

On to New Year's...and those dreaded resolutions!

Brown Sugar Bloob Airy Cupcakes
(makes about 2 dozen)
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk
blueberry pie filling, either homemade or bought

Blueberry buttercream:
2 cups (16 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons blueberry-flavored schnapps (I used Dekuyper)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.
To make the frosting, with an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy. Add vanilla and liqueur, and beat until frosting is smooth.
To fill the cupcakes, carve out a cone-shaped hole (and immediately eat the cone)(after adding frosting to it, of course) and carefully spoon the pie filling inside. Apply frosting generously to cupcakes and devour.

47 comments:

Alicia Foodycat said...

They look divine!

Faith said...

Love how these gorgeous cupcakes came to be out of what you have on hand. Definitely perfect for a blue(berry) Christmas, lol!

Julie M. said...

Those work for me. I adore blueberries; pair them with cupcakes and blammo - one happy mama. Have a great new years Grace!

Sue/the view from great island said...

I like the idea of the title coming first and the recipe second...very creative! The deep blue and the white is very pretty.

kat said...

I bet the snapps added a nice little zing though

Elizabeth said...

Not all resolutions are dreaded (like mine to make these)!

Unknown said...

What a sweet adorable title! IT looks scrumptious!

Hungry Dog said...

How fun and festive! Glad you had a nice Christmas, you deserve it. happy new year!

Gloria Baker said...

OMG! really this is to die for Grace:)) look amazing and divine, hope you had a lovely Christmas:)

Lisa-Marie said...

They look delicious and somewhat healthy.

scrambledhenfruit said...

Beautiful! I love blueberry anything. :)

lisa is cooking said...

This blueberry filling would make me very happy while devouring the cupcake, and the brown sugar cake sounds great. Happy New Year!

Lyndas recipe box said...

Oh so pretty, and I bet these babies are delicious as well. I could go for a couple of these blueberry cakes right now. You amaze me Grace with your creativity. May you have a wonderful New Year!

cocoa and coconut said...

Aw wow these look so delicious. I love filling cupcakes with tasty things.

I hope your Christmas was lovely too! Bet it was with all your cooking

vianney said...

The holiday season ended too soon, but these would make me feel very festive. love the filling!
happy new year!

K & B said...

Blueberry muffins are so yummy. Thank you for this recipe


http://ratedkb.blogspot.com/

Joanne said...

I love that you based a cupcake around a potential blog title. Totally something I would do.

I LOVE Oh Nuts! They have the best products. That blueberry filling sounds awesome.

eatme_delicious said...

Such cute cupcakes! I've never seen blueberry schnapps, though I don't enjoy that fake blueberry taste. Great idea to reconstitute dried blackberries for the filling!

XL @ 6 Bittersweets said...

I like my cupcakes moist and soft and of course blueberries are so classic. Love these cuppin' cakes and glad you're not actually feeling blue in the sad sense =). Happy holidays!

Erica said...

I love blueberries....Those cupcakes look fantastic!Happy New Year!

Marjie said...

On top of your cupcakes sounding wonderful, your frosting is always so very pretty. Would that I had the patience!

Deborah said...

These are gorgeous - love that color!

Robin said...

I had no idea that there is a blueberry schnapps. Now I have seen everything. Love that little surprise filling in there. Happy New Year!!

Kathy Walker said...

I had sworn off sweets but these look amazing!
Have a great New Year!

foodhoe said...

heehee love it, bloob airy! Gorgeous looking and I love the idea of brown sugar cupcakes. Happy holidays!

I'm At Home Baking said...

Ohhh, these look awesome!

RecipeGirl said...

Blueberry Schnapps?! I gotta find that stuff. These look awesome. Happy New Year!~

Tia said...

your buttercream looks fab!

Kerstin said...

I didn't know they made blueberry schnapps - yum, what creative cupcakes!

Carolyn Jung said...

Oh, you are such a devil. I probably gained 10 pounds over Christmas, and now you tempt me with cupcakes? Ooooh! But naturally, I can't resist. I am at your mercy. ;)
Happy New Year!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Haha and here I am with some blueberries-may I swap them for these beauties! :D Happy New Year Grace! :D

~~louise~~ said...

Heavenly Grace. Love the Blueberry Schnapps! Thanks for sharing...

A Very Happy, Safe & Healthy New Year to You and Yours! Can't wait for the "menu" for 2012!!! I'd Better let those jeans out, lol...

pam said...

Happy New Year!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

I resolve to bake more cupcakes. These look tremendous! Happy 2012!

Beth said...

These look gorgeous. Happy New Year to you! What a great way to start the year!

MaryBeth said...

Happy New Year Grace, these look simply delish.

Lori said...

I might have had peach schnapps around from all those fuzzy navels of yesteryear- but dude- blueberry schnapps? Must go to store. I think blueberry schnapps sales are about to jump.

The Blonde Duck said...

I can eat blueberries all year round--esp. in cupcake form!

Lisa said...

I think almost everyone has some sort of weird schnapps in the cupboard. I have cherry and raspberry but, alas, no bloob airy. Still the cupcakes look divine. So pretty! Happy New Year!

Becki's Whole Life said...

I am liking the bloob airies in the cupcakes. You could do some different variations with the schnapps idea, too...but the blueberry sounds yummy.

kellypea said...

Well we've got peach Schnaaps... But for the life of me I can't remember why. Oh the wonder of booze in food :) Happy New Year to you!

Pam said...

I think you are right... the blueberry makes a fantastic addition! Happy New Year my friend!

Elina (Healthy and Sane) said...

I love "stuffed" cupcakes. It's like a little surprise right in the middle. These look fantastic! :D

Mimi said...

Happy New Year Grace!
As always you've manage to find a creative way to use an interesting ingredient. I like the idea of a little fruit in the middle of my cupcake.
Mimi

Hornsfan said...

These look lovely Grace, you crack me up, blueberry schnapps is a pretty random thing to have around :)

shaz said...

Oh Grace, you have cupcake frosting down to a fine art! Every time I see a cupcake post of yours, I am mesmerised by the perfect swirl of frosting on top. This time, the blueberry filling got me too :)

Unknown said...

These look amazing Grace, and so moist and fluffy. Just delightful.