High Altitude Blueberry Cupcakes

Soft, light and fluffy, high altitude blueberry cupcakes full of juicy blueberries, frosted with sweet blueberry buttercream. These blueberry vanilla cupcakes are more delicate than a muffin, with a tender cake crumb that’s bursting with plump blueberries. And the pretty ruffled buttercream is naturally purple from freeze dried blueberry powder.

You might also love these lemon cupcakes, peach cupcakes, and strawberry cupcakes.

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Why You’ll Love These Cupcakes

Perfect for Spring and Summer. With the beautiful color of the buttercream and the blueberry studded cupcakes, these really are the perfect spring dessert.

Stays So Moist. The moisture from the blueberries ensures that these cupcakes stay moist for several days.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• Unsalted Butter. Adds richness and fat, to make up for the lack of egg yolks in the recipe. When creamed with the sugar, it lightens in color for a whiter cake crumb.
• Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
• Egg Whites. Add protein and structure, while using just the whites preserves the white color of the cupcakes.
• Cake Flour. With a lower percentage of protein than all-purpose flour, cake flour makes very light, fluffy cupcakes.
• Baking Powder. Leavens the cupcakes.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Whole Milk + Sour Cream. Adds moisture, richness and acidity, for a soft, tender cake crumb.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Blueberries. Pick the freshest, juiciest berries you can get.

TIP: Fresh blueberries, rather than frozen, are best for blueberry cupcakes. Frozen berries can stain and streak the batter, even turning it an unpleasant shade of green.

Buttercream

• Unsalted Butter. Adds fat and richness, and makes a very fluffy frosting when whipped with the powdered sugar. In very hot weather, substitute vegetable shortening for up to 50% of the butter, to make a more stable frosting.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Freeze-Dried Blueberry Powder. The freeze-dried blueberry powder adds a punch of blueberry flavor and a beautiful color, without thinning the buttercream.
• Milk. Add only if needed to thin the buttercream a little to your desired consistency for piping or spreading.

TIP: Instead of the freeze-dried blueberry powder, you can substitute a good-quality blueberry jam, although you’ll need to use twice as much of the jam. To eliminate lumps in your frosting, puree the jam in a food processor before adding it to the buttercream.

Instructions

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pans with 18 paper cupcake liners.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with the sugar for about 3-5 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the egg whites, one at a time, until well combined.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients.
• In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, sour cream and vanilla extract.
• With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Once you’ve added everything, mix well for about 15-30 seconds until the batter is well combined.
• Toss the blueberries with the reserved 1 tablespoon of dry ingredients, then fold the blueberries into the cake batter.

TIP: Larger, heavier blueberries will likely still sink in the batter somewhat as the cupcakes bake. To keep the blueberries suspended throughout the cupcakes, try to use smaller blueberries that aren’t as heavy.

• Divide the batter between 18 cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
• Bake the cupcakes for about 16-18 minutes, just until the tops spring back when gently touched. Cool in the pan for several minutes, then gently transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. The tops of the cupcakes may settle and flatten a bit as they cool – this is totally normal.

TIP: If you’re just going to spread the frosting on top with an icing spatula, you can cut the buttercream recipe in half.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and vanilla on medium for 1 minute until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder, salt and blueberry powder, until combined but clumpy. Increase the speed to medium, and whip for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until very light and fluffy. Only add the milk if the buttercream seems too stiff. Now turn the speed down to low, and mix for 1 minute to get rid of large air bubbles.
• Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, and top with fresh blueberries.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes?

Larger, heavier blueberries will likely still sink in the batter somewhat as the cupcakes bake. To keep the blueberries suspended throughout the cupcakes, try to use smaller blueberries that aren’t as heavy. The step of tossing the berries with a tablespoon of dry ingredients before adding them to the batter also helps.

What piping tip did you use?

I used tip #902, which is a really fun, very large specialty piping tip that easily creates the ruffled mounds of buttercream. This tip leaves a little gap at the top, so it works best if you’re planning to place something on top, like the fresh blueberries on today’s blueberry cupcakes.

Where can I buy freeze dried blueberry powder?

I buy freeze dried blueberry powder on Amazon.

Can I use blueberry jam instead of freeze dried blueberry powder in the buttercream?

Instead of the freeze-dried blueberry powder, you can substitute a good-quality blueberry jam, although you’ll need to use twice as much of the jam. To eliminate lumps in your frosting, puree the jam in a food processor before adding it to the buttercream.

Should I refrigerate blueberry cupcakes?

With the high moisture content from the fresh berries, these cupcakes should be refrigerated in an airtight container so that the fruit doesn’t spoil. Let them come to room temperature for about an hour before serving.

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