Blackberry, viola and vanilla cupcakes

Yum! These cupcakes were so easy to make, but looked and tasted rather superb, thanks to the awesome ingredients. The blackberries are foraged from a hedgerow near my home, and I picked the violas from pots on my balcony.

For the cakes:

225g caster sugar
110g butter
275g self-raising flour
2 large eggs
120ml milk, warmed gently
20 blackberries
1 vanilla pod

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until the mixture is smooth, then add the eggs one at a time.

2. Split the vanilla pod and scratch out the seeds into the milk.

3. Add a third of the flour, then a third of the milk and mix. Repeat this process until both ingredients are used up.

4. Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases or those legendary mini teflon baking moulds, and place one blackberry in the centre of each cake, then bake in the oven at 160C for 20 minutes until golden brown.

For the icing:

110g butter
60ml milk
450g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod
10 blackberries
Viola flowers to decorate

1. Add the contents of the vanilla pod to the milk.

2. Beat all the ingredients apart from the blackberries and the flowers in a mixing bowl.

3. Once the mixture is smooth, add the berries and mix until they have broken up and the mixture is a lovely lilac colour.

4. Once the cakes have cooled properly, spread the icing over the top liberally, and then perch one viola flower atop each cupcake. Eat.

Edible violas

I love growing violas for many reasons. I love their little nodding heads, I love their compact growth, and most of all, I love that hidden toughness and grit that keeps them flowering through the most miserable winter months. The violas that I’ve used here are ‘Blackberry Ice’, which has flowers that are either purple-and-white, or deep purple.

They have a sweet, subtle taste, and so work nicely on cakes or in savoury dishes like salads. There’s also a list of other edible flowers here.

6 Responses

Kimberly September 1, 2011

I want to make this but I am a little Brit illiterate. What is caster sugar? And what is self-rising flour?

I assume icing sugar is powdered sugar. And I can convert the measurements.

Reply
- F&F September 2, 2011
  
  Ooh, I’ll try to translate. Caster sugar is the sugar that has been milled more finely than normal sugar: it has smaller grains but is still white sugar (or sometimes golden). And self-raising flour is just normal flour that already has the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda added. Hopefully that helps!!
  
  Reply
Kimberly September 4, 2011

Thanks for the help! I couldn’t even find self-rising flour at Whole Foods, so I’m substituting some baking powder in. I hope mine come out as good as yours look!

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Kimberly September 4, 2011

P.S. For any other USians that want to make this, Caster Sugar is labeled as “ultrafine” in the states. I’m exciting to make these, especially since violas are in season and mine are blooming like crazy.

Reply
Kimberly September 5, 2011

Ugh. Converting measurements clearly didn’t work well because my cupcakes are a giant wet fluffy mess

Reply
- F&F September 5, 2011
  
  Noooo!
  
  Reply