I’m not usually a fan of non-chocolate pastries. When I was a kid, my mother couldn’t get me to touch cobblers or pies of any kind. However, these Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes are definitely starting to change my mind.

Inspiration for these came from my visit to Central Market, which is probably one of the coolest grocery stores I’ve ever visited. The place has some food items that I’ve never heard of and are always getting specialty and seasonal items that you can’t find anywhere else. I was on my way to get some coffee beans when I saw a little clear box of blue candies sitting on a standee in the middle of a large aisle. I didn’t think anything of them until I saw the label “Chocolate-Covered Blueberries”. I immediately had a vision of them on top of some cupcakes and grabbed them before I realized what I was doing. Keeping them uneaten after getting them home was a chore because they were so flipping good.

I played with some gold and silver disco dust a couple of weeks ago and loved it so much that I was drawn to buy some blue dust to go with the blueberries. Let me say right now that if you plan on working with disco dust, you’ll want to make sure you are super careful. When this stuff gets on or in something, it tends to stay until it is washed away. I learned that lesson after giving my husband a loving hair-ruffle before he headed off to work on Sunday afternoon. He now has an unjustifiable fear of me and glitter. That doesn’t keep him from eating these cupcakes, though.

I ended up making these cupcakes twice: this time, which was shared with my friends, my mouth, and my co-workers and a second time, in the form of mini cupcakes. Those mini cupcakes were shared with those co-workers who missed out on the first batch, as well as with my church homegroup. It was a huge hit both times. Seriously… eyes rolled into the backs of people’s heads.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcake Recipe 

Makes about 16 cupcakes

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• one stick of butter
• 1 scant cup of sugar sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

• 1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese
• 1 stick of butter
• 3-4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice (fresh, if you have some left)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Chocolate-covered blueberries, if you can find them. Or you can garnish with fresh blueberries!

1. When the cream cheese and butter have reached room temperature, cream them together.
2. Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and then mix in about a cup of the powdered sugar. Mix for about 5 minutes, then add in about another cup and mix in til blended.
3. Add in the lemon juice and vanilla and mix well. From here, continue to mix in the powdered sugar until you’ve added in at least 3 cups of it. Feel free to go all the way up to 4 cups, if you want a firmer icing. I did use about 3 1/2 cups for this batch.

This is a modified version of my favorite buttercream. yum!

Blinged-out Chocolate-Covered Blueberry

I was inspired by Darla at Bakingdom for these. She picked out some awesome nonpareils for her jewels. Her full tutorial can be found here and can be applied to many different toppings. I plan on trying it out on some chocolate-covered espresso beans soon.

• 1 tbps vodka
• 16-24 chocolate-covered blueberries
• disco dust.

1. Skewer the blueberry with a toothpick, for holding.
2. Using a clean paint brush, brush one blueberry with some vodka, letting the excess drip off.
3. While holding the toothpick with one hand, use your fingertips on the other hand to sprinkle the dust onto the blueberry.

The second batch of mini cupcakes. Topped with blueberries, rather than candy. Still awesome.