Very Berry Blueberry Cupcakes

Blueberry blueberry blueberry! Need I say more? These cupcakes are made with a blueberry muffin mix, filled with a homemade blueberry jam, and topped with a cream cheese frosting (lightly flavored with some blueberry juice).
An excellent morning treat, my favorite part is the blueberry jam in the middle. I am new to making any sort of jam like substance, or syrup type thing, so this was a wild and crazy success. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


So don't forget to go shopping! Here's what you should pick up:

• Frosting (I went with a cream cheese Betty Crocker. One tub or two tubs is up to you, I had too much left over!)
• Blueberry Muffin Mix (Betty Crocker is a babe!)
• Anything Betty Crocker tells you you'll need on the back of the box (She's so thoughtful!)
• 1 Box of Blueberries (Or two if you're hungry!)
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice

Well, I did. Breaking the muffin mold, so to speak. And onwards we go! Grab that box of Betty Crocker! Follow her instructions on the path to blueberry morning goodness. I had never used the blueberry mix before, so I was a little shocked to find that she does include a small can of blueberries just for the occasion. Isn't she swell? A couple of eggs, a little oil and milk, rinse the blue berries, add the cake powder...remember to stir gently, as though you were tucking each of those blueberries in for a good night's rest.

Well, to be honest, both of them! I had enough cake mix to make 12 mini bundt cupcakes, and 6 larger standard cupcakes in a paper wrapping. It's nice having a little variety to play around with when it comes to decorating later.

Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before stuffing and decorating them! It's important to let them rest, they've been working so hard for you.

So I did not do any measuring for this part, bear with me. (Bears like berries).

I had seen this process done in passing, and I knew the ingredients, so I just went with it and made sure it tasted right. And it did! All you need for this part, is a pot on the stove with a pack of fresh blueberries, a splash of lemon juice, a handful of water, and several handfuls of sugar. 

Let it all boil together and stir constantly! Keep the mix bubbling for a while, until most of the water evaporates. Then you can let it cool down and it will condense a little.

While you are waiting for your jam mixture to boil down, you can work on those cooled off cupcakes. All you need for this part, is a small metal spoon.

Use your spoon to carve a circular hole about an inch in diameter in the top of the cupcake. Gently! In case the cupcakes are soft or crumbly. As you can see, I used two kinds of pans for my cupcakes. The ones in the paper liner came out fluffier and larger, whereas the others ended up smaller and sturdier.

You can either keep the tops that you carved out, or you can munch on them while you work :D

When your jam is ready, and cooled a little (it sets up firmer when it's cooled), use a small spoon and fill the holes that you just made in the cupcakes. The larger cupcakes I replaced the cut-out tops so that I could frost them differently. I left the tops off of the smaller cupcakes and only frosted on the outer edges.

So I took my frosting and put it in a bowl, and while the jam was cooking, I took a liiiiitle bit of the syrup (while it was still liquid-y) and added it to the frosting. About two or three spoonfuls. It gave the frosting a very pastel blue color, it's hard to see in the pictures but it's there! Also, the liquid may make the frosting too soft, so let it sit in the refrigerator until you're ready to frost the cupcakes.

I wanted to be able to see the jam filling in my cupcakes, so the smaller ones I left the tops off and only frosted along the outer edges. The larger cupcakes, well the tops just fit so snugly that they were meant to be replaced. Those ones got a full treatment of frosting. My alternative reasoning for this was the frosting to cupcake ratio--while frosting is delicious, I've frankly had too much frosting in my life and like a milder flavor. I like to balance out small cupcake to small frosting, and large cupcake to large frosting. Ratios make sense in all aspects of life. (A little philosophy and frosting go hand and hand).

Anyways, I hope you enjoy my Very Berry Blueberry Cupcakes. I had so much fun making them!