Red, White, and Blueberry Cupcakes

Fire up the barbecue, light the sparklers, invite the neighbors. Celebrate Memorial Day and the Fourth of July-and that there are blueberries and raspberries and blackberries and strawberries in season, sweet and good and dripping with juice. Top the cupcakes with berries, whip up the cream, and have a great time-it's summer.

Ingredients

• CUPCAKES
• 1/3 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
• TOPPING
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
• 1/3 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

MAKE THE CUPCAKES:
Put the blueberries in a small bowl and stir them gently with 1 tablespoon of the flour; set aside. Sift the remaining 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons flour, the baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Beat in the egg whites in two additions, mixing until smoothly blended. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat for 2 minutes. The batter should look smooth but foamy. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the milk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the blueberries and raspberries into the batter.
Fill each paper liner with 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the top feels firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

MAKE THE TOPPING:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until firm peaks form.
Use a small spatula to spread a generous 3 tablespoons of whipped cream evenly over the top of each cupcake. Gently spoon several raspberries and blueberries over the whipped cream. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Submitted 6/15/07.
Source: The Cupcake Deck
Submitted By: b smith

Red, White, and Blueberry Cupcakes