Blueberries are one of my favorite foods. Growing up on the East coast I would spend my Summer in Martha’s Vineyard or Maine with my family. We would pick the tiniest, most flavorful blueberries you can find and make all varieties of baked goods such as pies, scones, and blueberry muffins. It was heaven. I still think of blueberries as the epitome of Summer and try to sneak them into just about every baked goodie whether it’s for breakfast, dessert or anything in between. The great thing about these blueberry lemon cupcakes, besides these flavors being a winning combo, is that they can double as a muffin or cupcake. They’re amazing toasted with a little butter for breakfast or frosted and dressed up for dessert!
As a lover of all things beer, these cupcakes would, of course, have beer in them! Blueberry beer to be exact! My choice is the Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale which mimics the wild Maine blueberry flavor, but just about any blueberry beer would be great. If you are worried about the alcohol in a cupcake, do not stress as the alcohol cooks out leaving you with an even more amazing blueberry flavor. The lemon also adds a touch of acidity making these muffins so fresh and addictive!
Kickoff the summer with a batch of these blueberry lemon cupcakes. I dressed mine up with some homemade blueberry beer frosting made with more fresh blueberries. This gives them a pop of color and is super festive if you plan to make these for your 4th of July party (which you should)! They also travel well, so bring them to your picnic, enjoy poolside, or around the BBQ with a cold craft beer. I hope you all enjoy!
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoons baking soda
- Dash of salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup blueberry beer
- 1-1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup blueberry beer
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Frosting
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the softened butter and egg until combined, then add the buttermilk, beer, lemon zest mixture and lemon juice. Whisk well until all ingredients are combined.
- Add the beer mixture to the flour mixture and stir together until just moistened. Do not over mix.
- Gently fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into each liner, filling about 2/3 the way full. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let chill completely.
- Add beer and blueberries to a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for about 10 minutes until beer is thickened and reduced to about 1/4 cup, stirring continuously. With a mesh sieve over a bowl, strain out the blueberry beer and press all juices from the blueberries into the bowl with the backside of a spatula. Discard the skins and allow the blueberry beer concentrate to cool.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer in a large bowl, whisk the butter on high for about 5 minutes or until white and fluffy. Scraping down sides.
- Add 3 cups powdered sugar, a cup at a time, mixing on high between additions. Add cooled blueberry beer concentrate and mix well. Whip for 2-3 minutes, adding more powdered sugar if it looks too thin. Use pastry bag or spread onto cooled cupcakes.
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