Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes

At some point in the not-so-distant past, there was a dance competition thing. It was during that dance competition that past me wrote a check that present me had to cash and GRRRR. I shouldn't do that.

The girls have this lovely tradition of getting each other a small gift as a congratulations for competition weekend. This year, I was alllllll done with thinking and organizing and being prepared, so I asked Alexis if we could pass on the competition gift and instead do something fancy for the last class of the year. Because she rules, Alexis agreed to the plan.

Fast forward to last week. It was 24 hours before the class where I was supposed to have something fancy and I didn't. But! I did get it done!

Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes.

They were amazing and fantastic and one of my favorite things was watching the girls in the class get all sorts of happy when they laid eyes on the cupcakes. It was even more fun watching them all take selfies with their cupcakes and post pictures, especially because now that they're all older, they can appreciate a GOOD cupcake. That's in comparison to kids Mila's age who basically prefer that you pour some sugar in a cup and hand it to them. The older girls have a much greater appreciation for subtle things like lemon zest carefully wound through a blackberry buttercream frosting.

It was REALLY good, if I say so myself. Which I do.

Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes

(makes 24 cupcakes)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Blackberry Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup blackberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
5 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with super cute liners of your choice.

2. Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir them up with a whisk.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla.

4. Put the wet ingredients in the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix at low speed until just combined.

5. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when you poke at a cupcake.

6. To make the frosting, place all but the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for about 30 seconds then at higher speed until the blackberries are well mashed. Slowly add the powdered sugar and keep mixing until it's all combined and happy.

7. Top your cooled cupcakes with that frosting then top it all with a bunch of fancy sprinkles. Bonus points if you add a white chocolate star on top, but that's not really necessary.