Vanilla Cupcakes with Blackberry Jam Filling and Lavender Frosting

Welcoming in the Springtime with these delicious Vanilla Cupcakes with Blackberry Jam Filling and the sweetest Lavender Frosting! Every bite of is like a warm embrace of the sun…with sweet floral notes. Made with simple ingredients, the vanilla cupcakes are light, fluffy, and everything a perfect cupcake should be. Lightly sweet, hints of vanilla, and so simple to make…but the real stars of the show are the homemade blackberry jam and the super simple lavender frosting! The jam is made of only three simple ingredients, with a light lemon-y twist to keep the filling bright and summery. Then, there’s the frosting. A simple buttercream infused with the perfect amount of lavender to make every bite floral, sweet, creamy, and oh so delicious. When you combine all of these, you have a cupcake that is unlike any other! They’re perfect for any and every occasion. Oh, and they’re especially a great way to use all those fresh blackberries.

→ This post is also available as a Web Story: Blackberry Lavender Cupcakes

About The Recipe

Happy Friday, everyone! We have cupcakes to end this week. And not just any cupcakes, but some of my favorite so far! As crazy as this may sound, we don’t actually have very many cupcake recipes on our blog. Sure, we have whole lot of cake recipes, but the cupcake department is greatly lacking.

So, I could not be more excited for today because we are finally sharing these delicious cupcakes with all of you! Oh, and today means we’re all one day closer to warmer days.

And, to be totally honest, these cupcakes are actually one of my favorite things we have posted to date on our blog. Not only are they super simple, but they are probably one of the best recipes we’ve ever shared!

Though, I could be a little biased. One of my favorite flavor combinations is blackberries and lavender…so, when you combine them into a cupcake, it makes everything so much better because there’s nothing better than a cupcake!

Not to mention, our blog seems to also be lacking in the blackberry department…which is a little weird for us. My mom and I absolutely love blackberries more than any other berry! We could probably eat a whole container in one sitting.

So, these cupcakes will hopefully be the start of something new and exciting!

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But getting these cupcakes absolutely perfect wasn’t exactly the easiest. We probably spent more time debating on how to get the right amount of flavor into these cupcakes without compromising anything. We wanted simple, elegant…something totally different than any other (cup)cake we’d ever posted.

Honestly, we thought about stirring berries into the cupcake batter, making lavender flavored milk for the cupcakes and frosting…honestly, if you can come up with it, we probably thought of it.

It just wasn’t what we were going for, you know? Everything seemed like it would be an overwhelming amount of flavor of each or just an overpowering amount of one. It wasn’t until my mom found some old blackberries in the fridge that we realized we could make some jam.

From there, these cupcakes blossomed (haha, get it?) into something so much more than the original idea! Now, we have cupcakes that are not only delicious…but the perfect thing to welcome in spring.

Equipment Needed

• Mixing Bowls
• Hand Mixer
• Cupcake Papers
• Muffin Pans
• Large Pot
• Food Processor
• Sifter
• Mixer
• Piping Bags
• Piping Tips
• Cake Tester
• Cupcake Corer

Ingredients

For The Jam:

• Blackberries, fresh or frozen
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice

For The Cupcakes:

• Eggs
• Sugar
• Cream of Tartar
• All-Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Vegetable Oil
• Whole Milk
• Vanilla Extract

For The Frosting:

• Powdered Sugar
• Dried Culinary Lavender
• Salted Butter
• Vanilla Extract
• Heavy Cream

Instructions

Combine blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large pot. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, or until jam starts to thicken. Let cool.

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Once the jam is cool, place it in the largest bowl of the food processor and pulse until smooth. Set aside.

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In a medium sized bowl, beat together egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar until medium peaks form, about 3-5 minutes.

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Mix together flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

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Whisk egg yolks, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla.

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Slowly mix together the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Continue whisking until completely smooth.

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Fold in the meringue in two parts.

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Pour batter into a lined muffin pans. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes test done.

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In the largest bowl of the food processor, pulse until the lavender is fully incorporated. Sift and set aside.

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In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy.

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Slowly, add the powdered sugar.

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Beat in the vanilla and heavy cream.

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This is optional, but if you would like, you can stir the food dye in now. The amount of dye needed varies on the type/brand you have. Ours takes about 3 drops of red and 4-5 drops of blue dye to achieve a light purple.

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Core the cupcakes. Fill the cupcakes with jam. Place the tops back over the cupcakes. Pipe buttercream in desired style.

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What Type of Lavender To Use

The most important thing is that you use lavender that is culinary grade. This is because anything else might have pesticides or something along those lines. I also suggest, if you can, find the variety known as Miss Katherine.

It sweetest and has the most floral flavor. Some lavender’s can be a little peppery or even bitter. So, make sure you double check what you’re buying! The amount of lavender may need to be adjusted depending on the type of lavender you have.

Blackberry Jam Troubleshooting

My jam is too thick. The jam is overcooked, but it’s okay! This happens to us more often than not. You can actually add just a little bit of water and stir it until the jam loosens. It won’t effect the flavor.

The jam tastes burnt. This was probably caused by not stirring enough. You pretty much have to stir this jam constantly. Also, be sure to pop the berries while you stir!

Too many seeds in the jam. If pulsing the jam didn’t work, you can solve this by straining the jam through a very fine meshed sieve.

5 Tips To Get The Best Buttercream Frosting

If you are like me, you may struggle with making buttercream. If you follow all of these tips, you should have the silkiest and most delicious buttercream frosting!

1. Start off with room temperature butter. Starting with chilled butter will only cause you problems.
2. Be careful not to over beat! It may seem tempting to just leave it whipping while you fill cupcakes, but this is actually one of the worst things you can do.
3. Be sure to sift the powdered sugar! This is so you don’t have a lumpy buttercream.
4. Don’t add more sugar than stated in the recipe. Whatever happens, more sugar will probably not help the situation!
5. You may want to let the powdered sugar and lavender mixture sit overnight. If there’s not enough flavor, letting the two infuse overnight should work.

How To Store

These cupcakes need to be refrigerated! So, place the leftover cupcakes in a taller lidded container and keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Substitutions

• You can use store-bought jam rather than make your own.
• Frozen blackberries can be used to make the jam instead of fresh.

Expert Tips

• The butter and eggs need to be room temperature for this recipe.
• Don’t over beat the meringue! Just beat until medium peaks.
• Fold in the meringue, don’t mix it! This is what makes your cupcakes so light and airy.
• Also, don’t over-mix the cupcake batter!
• If you want a little bit stronger lavender flavor in the frosting, leave the lavender and the powdered sugar mixed together overnight.
• If you don’t having piping bags, you can actually use a ziploc to pipe the jam (or the frosting)!
• The food dye is optional.
• Make sure you store these cupcakes in the refrigerator!
• You can use frozen blackberries instead of fresh.

When you make these Vanilla Cupcakes with Blackberry Jam Filling and Lavender Frosting, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.