Roasted Blueberry Cupcakes

Ever have one of those recipes that you think, "Yup, this is it. This is the recipe that kills me." 

This was one of those recipes for me.

The Fates had conspired against me since I had woken up yesterday.

The recipe is actually very easy and VERY pretty, not to mention extremely delicious.

But those darn Fates just did NOT want me to be successful at it.

Okay...first off....I banged my knuckle whilst getting out of the shower so started the day with a bruised hand.

(Which has nothing to do with the recipe but I figured might garner me some sympathy.)

Then, in preparation of making this recipe I made sure I was all prepped and ready to go. Turns out I didn't have plain muffin liners. Okay, I didn't have a vehicle to go buy more so I figured I would just make due. I had a few odds and ends that I figured would work. After all, they were for my mother to take to the Senior's Center so they wouldn't mind the St. Patrick's Day or Valentine's Day or HUGE shiny blue liners.

The part of my brain that is obsessed with perfection was NOT happy with having to use such an eclectic collection of liners but..whatever...I dealt with it.

I then preheated the oven to 350 in order to roast the blueberries. Yay! That seemed to work fine.

Now to make the batter while the blueberries roast.

Turns out I forgot to leave the butter out to soften.

*SIGH*

Okay, margerine *gasp* it is.

Dang it. I don't like to bake with margerine but it was soft.

I know, I know...you are thinking,  "But Jo, you can just microwave the butter for a few seconds and it will be soft."

Well, yes, that's true. But if you accidently press 1:00 instead of :10 the butter melts and then you can't use it because it is too melty.

*Siiiigh*

Okay, blueberries are roasted. I take them out of the oven and let them cool a bit while I carry on with the batter.

Wait...I'm short 1/2 cup flour. Okay.... I'll just sub in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.

No problem.

Batter done.

Liners filled.

Into the oven they go for 18 - 22 minutes.

After 12 minutes I rotate the tins in the oven.

Now I'm thinking, "Hmmm....they don't seem to be rising. That's weird. Oh well, maybe they just need the full 20 minutes to cook to rise properly."

I checked them again after another 10 minutes.

Nope.

Not cooking. What the heck.

OOOOOOH! I see what the problem is....

Apparently when I took the blueberries out of the oven I shut the oven off.

Okay, so, it turns out these cupcakes need heat to cook them.

I know, I'll just fire up the oven now and they can finish cooking.

I wasn't about to give up on them after all that.

PLUS, did I mention that it cost me $10.00 for 2 cups of fresh blueberries? I was not about to throw them away!

(Why did they cost so much? That is one of the joys of living out in the boonies in a teeny tiny town! Fresh fruit and produce is a million dollars)

ANYWAYS....

My delicious roasted blueberry cupcakes didn't cook up very well.

Oh, they cooked.

They were edible.

In fact,they were very tasty.

 They just looks really, really sad.

Like little purple squishy hockey pucks.

Know what I did after that?

I took the day off from baking. I mowed the lawn, went for a bike ride and a walk, then went out for Chinese food for dinner. I went to the store to buy the groceries I needed to make them again - I had to make them work.... HAD TO....or it would drive me crazy.

Turns out there wasn't a store in town that had any fresh blueberries.

Like NO FRESH BLUEBERRIES at all.

Alright, fresh blackberries it is!

So...I did make them again today and they turned out lovely. The roasted blackberries certainly do not have the deep flavor that the blueberries had but they do have that same wonderful color.

Would you prefer a blueberry hockey puck cupcake or a pretty blackberry cupcake?

Roasted Blueberry Cupcakes

Slightly adapted from Beantown Baker

Ingredients

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 16 muffin cups with liners.

Spread blueberries in a pan and roast for 10 - 15 minutes, until berries start to burst. Remove and let cool while you make the batter.

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and vanill and beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined.

Scrape in blueberries and beat on medium speed until berries break down. At this point your batter should have enough liquid - if it doesn't, then add a tablespoon or two of milk.It should be the consistency of cake batter and not dough.

Pour into cupcake liners and bake for 18 - 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

The original recipe at The Beantown Baker suggested topping with cream cheese frosting.

I loved the cream cheese on the blueberry version of this recipe as the blueberries are quite bold and flavorful but, on the blackberry version, the cream cheese was overpowering.

The top photo is the blueberry batter, the bottom photo is the blackberry batter.

They are both really bright!

If I had to choose, I would say the blueberry was my favorite flavor. I can't believe how roasting the fruit really brings out the sweetness and full flavor.

When I have access to some fresh blueberries, for less than a million dollars, I am definitely making these again. In the meantime, please enjoy the one photo I have of a blueberry cupcake that actually turned out (fairly) normal.

P.S. - It was in a teeny tiny muffin tin so I think the oven was hot enough to cook it before it cooled off!

Oooooh! So pretty!

Oh...and a photo of the (properly cooked) blackberry cupcakes.

Ooooooh! Pretty!

Check out Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons for some great links.
And, check out A Rosie Sweet Home for some more great links.