Blueberry Vanilla Cupcakes Again!

Several weeks ago, when we went to the supermarket, we saw that the blueberries were on offer soooooo, we bought it! It's been a long time since we last used blueberry to bake. We wanted to try out different recipes, but we ended up baking the same one that we did the last time -- Blueberry Vanilla Cupcakes. I think that the cupcakes was better than the previous time though! We improved~~ :D

Ingredients for Vanilla Cupcake Batter

• 85g self-raising flour
  * (Can be made using I85g plain flour + 1 1/4tsp baking powder + 1/8 tsp salt)
• 70g all-purpose plain flour
• 113g unsalted butter, softened
• 170g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean for even more intensity)

Method for Vanilla Cupcake Batter

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (350°F).
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Ingredients for Blueberry Sauce

• 2 tbsp sugar 
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice*

*We used orange juice as we didn't have lemon and it turned out pretty good too.

Method for Blueberry Sauce

Cook all these ingredients in a saucepan over a low flame, stirring constantly. Cook for as long as you want your blueberries to be mushy.

Method for combining sauce and batter

1. Prepare both the blueberry sauce and the cupcake batter.
2. Spoon the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners to about 1/3, then spoon the blueberry sauce into the cupcake liners (up to you to decide how generous you want to be). Spoon the cupcake batter to fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 or 3/4* full.
   * 2/3 will be preferred to 3/4 as the batter will rise quite a bit.
3. Swirl the mixture of blueberry sauce and cupcake batter in the cupcake liners.
   * Note: Do not swirl it too much!!! The cupcake will bake to a mouldy colour instead of a nicer shade of dark purple if it is being swirled to a light purple (close to lavender). 
4. Bake for 20 to 25* minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
   * At the 20-minute mark, reduce heat to 160°C (325°F). The tops of the cupcakes should be lightly golden.
5. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Recipe adapted from: The Little Teochew

Look at the blueberries exploding~