Aug 15

Aug 15 Lemon Cupcakes with Saskatoon Berry Jam Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello fellow foodies!

Great news! I am finally halfway through the massive jar of Saskatoon berry jam that my boyfriend's parents gave us. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here to check out the recipe that helped me get to where I am today. The backstory on the jam is this - my boyfriend's parents gave us a huge jar of Saskatoon berry jam but nobody in our household eats a ton of jam except me, and I strongly dislike Saskatoon berries. So I decided to use up the jam by incorporating it in my baking. This time, I used it in a cream cheese frosting for cupcakes.

It was recently my bf's cousin's birthday and I wanted to surprise him with some baked goods. He doesn't have much of a sweet tooth so I thought I'd make something fruity instead of a delicious chocolate cavity bomb. I found a recipe for lemon cupcakes on Sally's Baking Addiction. She includes a recipe for blackberry cream cheese frosting but I would substitute the blackberries for my Saskatoon berry jam. I thought this recipe would be perfect for him!

I really hoped these cupcakes would turn out better than the disaster of muffins I made a week ago. You can read the story here. This time, I made sure to read all of the ingredients carefully because I did not have enough ingredients for a do-over. I followed the recipe and the cupcakes turned out pretty well. I had enough batter for 2 extra cupcakes but I ran out of space in my muffin pan. I decided to pour the extra batter into the paper cupcake cups and place them on a cookie sheet. It turned out great aside from the cupcakes losing their shape and spreading flat because the paper cups weren’t constrained in the muffin pan. Either way, the cupcakes turned out perfectly cakey and made the kitchen smell faintly of lemons.

I swear the frosting tastes better than it looks!

While the cupcakes cooled, I prepared the frosting, making sure not to repeat the same mistake I made last time with the muffins. Previously, on the disastrous muffin fiasco, I put Saskatoon berry jam straight into a piping tool and did not realize that there were whole berries in the jam that would not fit through the piping tip. I was determined not to go through that hell again so I pureed the jam with my immersion blender. (That blender is a lifesaver, I highly recommend it for all your cooking needs.) This way, when I mixed the jam with the cream cheese for the frosting, it wouldn't have chunks in it and it would be easier to pipe out. When I made the frosting, I also put approximately one cup less confectionary sugar than the recipe called for so that it wouldn't be too sweet for my cousin. Anyhoo, the frosting turned out delicious and tangy and because I pureed the jam, it was wayyy easier to pipe onto the cupcakes. I also had some frosting leftover which I ended up using as a spread for my waffles and pancakes for breakfast.

I'm super proud of how these cupcakes turned out. My bf’s cousin was happily surprised and he loved them so much so that he ate 2! He said they weren't too sweet and he really liked the tangy flavour of the cream cheese frosting along with the lemon flavour of the cupcakes. These cupcakes were a huge hit! If you like fruity, less sweet baked goods, then definitely give this recipe a try!