Blackberry Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream

Fluffy, tender cupcakes bursting with fresh blackberries are topped with fresh blackberry buttercream frosting in this recipe. These beautiful homemade cupcakes are the perfect summer treat!

Summertime is all about those beautiful summer berries, and blackberries are the star of these delectable cupcakes! If you're looking for more summer dessert ideas, be sure to check out our Maple Grilled Peaches with Granola Crumble and Lemon Shortbread Cookies with Strawberry Glaze!

Cupcakes bake up quickly, making them perfect for summertime when you want to crank up the oven as little as possible. Summer desserts are all about those fresh, summer berries and blackberries are the shining star of these cupcakes!

Table of Contents

• Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
• How To Make This Recipe
• Can I Make These Cupcakes with Frozen Berries?
• How Do I Make Sure My Cupcakes Turn Out Moist?
• Tips For The Fluffiest Cupcakes
• The Best Way To Store Cupcakes
• More Irresistible Dessert Recipes You Will Love!
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe

Blackberry Cupcakes

• All-purpose flour. Use good-quality flour such as Bob's Red Mill for the best cupcakes. Measure your flour correctly by weighing it with a kitchen scale or spoon and level method.
• Baking powder and baking soda. These leavening agents make the cupcakes rise and bake up fluffy.
• Salt. Salt brings out the flavors of the other ingredients.
• Unsalted butter. Butter provides the fat needed in the cupcakes and adds flavor. Be sure your butter is softened to room temperature.
• Granulated sugar. Sugar is used to sweeten the cupcakes and is creamed with butter for the cupcake batter.
• Eggs. Eggs act as a binder for the cupcakes and give them structure. Make sure they are room temperature.
• Sour cream. Sour cream adds a subtle tanginess to the cupcakes and helps them turn out moist and tender. Bring the sour cream to room temperature.
• Buttermilk. Buttermilk also helps ensure the cupcakes turn out moist and tender. The buttermilk also needs to be at room temperature.
• Vanilla extract. This ingredient adds additional flavor and depth. Use good quality vanilla for the best flavor.
• Fresh blackberries. Chopped blackberries are mixed into the batter right at the end for a burst of fresh berry flavor and color.

Blackberry Buttercream

• Salted butter. Very soft salted butter is the base for the buttercream frosting.
• Fresh blackberries. Chopped blackberries give the frosting a burst of fresh berry flavor and beautiful color.
• Powdered sugar. To sweeten the buttercream and give it structure.
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lemon juice highlights the flavor of the blackberries and balances out the sweetness.

How To Make This Recipe

Make The Cupcakes

• Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Whisk together the sour cream and buttermilk in a separate small mixing bowl. Set aside.
• Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 7-9 minutes.
• Add eggs to the bowl with the butter mixture one at a time and mix after each addition until combined. Beat in vanilla and blackberries until completely mixed in.
• Use a cookie scoop to spoon batter into lined muffin cups, filling them about ⅔ full. Bake the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make The Blackberry Buttercream

• Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed (setting of 4-6) until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the blackberries to the bowl and beat until completely mixed into the butter, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Add in the powdered sugar, beating in one cup at a time, until the frosting is sturdy and smooth. Beat in the lemon juice.
• Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip and pipe frosting onto the cool cupcakes in a swirl pattern, staring at the rim and working your way toward the center, coming to a peak.
• Garnish cupcakes with a fresh blackberry and serve at room temperature.

Can I Make These Cupcakes with Frozen Berries?

Yes, these cupcakes can be made with frozen blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries. Just thaw the fruit entirely and follow the same steps outlined in the recipe.

You can also substitute any other varieties of fresh berries listed above in these cupcakes.

How Do I Make Sure My Cupcakes Turn Out Moist?

The key to super moist cupcakes is incorporating the right amount of wet ingredients into your cupcake batter. This recipe uses a combination of sour cream and buttermilk to help them bake up very moist. Some other ways to make cupcakes moist are:

1. Use oil instead of butter. If your cake recipe calls for butter, consider replacing it with canola oil, olive oil, or coconut oil. While butter is a delicious kind of fat, it is also comprised partially of water. Oil, which is 100% fat, will yield a more moist cupcake.
2. Swap milk for full-fat yogurt. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of milk, try using one cup of full-fat Greek yogurt or ½ cup milk and ½ cup yogurt instead. Yogurt contains less water than milk and will help your cupcakes turn out extra moist, just like the sour cream we use in this blackberry cupcake recipe.
3. Do not overbake your cupcakes. Leaving them in the oven will cause them to lose moisture and dry out. Check your cupcakes with a toothpick inserted into the center. If the toothpick comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs, the cupcakes are ready

Tips For The Fluffiest Cupcakes

1. Measure your dry ingredients correctly! I strongly suggest investing in an inexpensive kitchen scale if you do not already have one. Measuring your flour is the best way to get accurate measurements.
   • If you do not have a kitchen scale, measure our flour by spooning it into your measuring cup and leveling off the top with a knife. Never dip your measuring cup into your flour!
   • This is a great article that breaks down how to properly measure flour.
2. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. This is key in getting moist, fluffy cupcakes. Making sure ingredients are at the right temperature when mixing your batter helps the ingredients come together properly and create the perfect texture.
3. Do not over-mix the batter. When instructions say to mix "just until combined", this means just until the point you see no more dry flour visible in the batter.
   • Over-mixing causes the gluten to over-develop, resulting in tough, chewy cupcakes instead of light and fluffy.
4. Do not overfill the cupcake liners. My rule of thumb is to fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full. Over-filling the liners could result in cupcakes that:
   • Rise then sink after removing them from the over.
   • Cupcake batter overflowing in the pan.
   • Tops that spread out like a mushroom top.

The Best Way To Store Cupcakes

These blackberry cupcakes, and most other frosted cupcakes, can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to three days. If cupcakes are filled with cream or topped with cream cheese frosting, they should be stored in the refrigerator.

You can also freeze unfrosted cupcakes by wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap and placing them in a freezer bag for up to three months.

More Irresistible Dessert Recipes You Will Love!

📖 Recipe