I'll admit it, I baked today mainly to have something to write my first blog post about. But, it's also nearing the end of blueberry season (as the daughter of a jam-maker/berry-picker I know a lot about the berry seasons in New England) so I figured I'd make something with some local berries I found at the co-op in my neighborhood.

Just a heads up - I'm not a chemist and can't really create my own recipes, nor do I have the time to do so. I leave that part up to some very reliable baking bloggers and occasionally some random ones I stumble upon. Today, my recipe came from Sally at Sally's Baking Addiction .

I also don't follow the rules very strictly. I never, ever read the actual instructions for making the cake part. No sifting or separating for this girl, and definitely no photo-taking during the baking process (decorating pics are fine, though). It's all about efficiency and minimal dishes in my dishwasherless kitchen.

I also always double the frosting recipe no matter what because I like to pile it on. I figure it's better to have too much than not enough. Plus, you can always throw the extra frosting in a tupperware or even a ziploc baggie and freeze it for frostings you make in the future! Just let it thaw or zap it in the microwave and use it for a base for the next frosting you make.

I really thought I wouldn't have long intros to my recipe posts, but look at what just happened up there...anyway, here's what I made.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
with Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted/pretty much copied from Blueberries 'n Cream Cupcakes by Sally's Baking Addiction

MADE 15 CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES

1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted (I always use salted, even when the recipe says unsalted)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup yogurt or sour cream (I used Siggi's 2% Plain icelandic skyr, my favorite yogurt)
3/4 cup milk (I splurged and used cream!)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 and 1/3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen - straight from the freezer, not thawed)

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (this is the doubled version of the original)

16 oz (2 packs) full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
tiny bit of milk or cream if you need it

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. With a handheld or standing mixer, combine the cupcake ingredients: melted butter, egg and sugars first, dry and wet ingredients alternating afterwards - I'll leave this up to you.

Split the batter between lined cupcake tins (should make about 14 or 15). Bake for around 20 minutes - it took mine 24 minutes to bake to perfection.

Let cool until they're ready to frost. Here's what mine looked like after they cooled. I think they were extra blue because I opted for frozen blueberries in the batter itself, although you can't really tell from the photo:

Next, whip up the frosting with your handheld mixer. Combine the butter and cream cheese first, then add the confectioners' sugar little by little with a few spoonfuls of vanilla. I honestly don't measure the sugar or vanilla in frostings, because it's the one part of baking that is forgiving and doesn't have to follow the exact proportions. It just has to taste good and be firm enough to stand up in a huge fluffy pile on each cupcake!

I used a pastry bag and a 1M Star tip to frost mine. However, the tip got a little squished in my drawer at some point, so it turned into more of a 2D Star shape, which was actually the look I was going for. I did little frosting blobs in a pyramid-ish shape on each cupcake to get these pretty mounds:

Then, topped them all off with some of the local blueberries for the final result:

They turned out to be delicious! I don't even love citrus or cream cheese frosting, but the hint of lemon with the fruit and cream cheese combo was perfect. The roommates and I were obviously the taste testers, and the rest will go into the office tomorrow. Hope you get to make some before blueberry season is gone for good!