Farewell to Summer!

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, and only just realized that I forgot to post it. 😳 Oops. So y’all just pretend I posted this when I thought I had, okay? Thanks! 

It’s mid-September y’all and I am so happy to be saying farewell to summer! Now, y’all know I live in Texas, so it’s not like we ever really say goodbye to summer since the heat will come and go through the fall, but the 100+ degree days should be past us ~ thank goodness! So since Autumn technically begins this Wednesday, I thought I’d make one last summery tasting cupcake. May I present the Blackberry Coconut Cupcake! These are damn tasty cupcakes y’all!

  

This is what the inspiration cupcakes looked like, MUCH prettier than mine!

 

I was casually thumbing through Pinterest the other day, trying to find something that sounded awesome for this month’s cupcake project when I saw these beautimous Blackberry Coconut Cupakes on ‘baking a moment’’s website: http://bakingamoment.com/blackberry-coconut-cupcakes/ I mean, how gorgeous are those cupcakes? So that was my inspiration. But it calls for scratch made cupcakes, and y’all know I don’t do that. SO, I looked around for another, similar, cupcake and came across these Blackberry White Chocolate Cupcakes from the ‘culinary covers’ website: http://www.culinarycovers.com/2014/03/blackberry-white-chocolate-cupcakes/. Anywho, I took the things I liked from each of these sites and then made it Randalicious!

My best good friend who tried them today said that they were in the top 10 best things she’s ever eaten, so yeah, I think my efforts turned out pretty good. WHEW! 

Next month, I will be fully into Fall stuff, pumpkin spiced EVERYTHANG, so stay tuned!

 

Blackberry Coconut Cupcakes with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Ingredients for Cupcakes:

1 box French Vanilla white cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup of Coconut Oil (I used the liquid kind, you can use solid, just melt it first so that it’s a true 1/3 cup liquid)

¾ cup 2% milk

¾ cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons coconut extract

¼ cup Malibu Coconut Rum
For the Cupcake Filling:

1/2 cup of seedless blackberry jam (melt slightly in microwave and stir well to make it easier to spoon into cored cupcakes.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

•8 ounces cream cheese (the kind in a brick)

•pinch of kosher salt

•3 cups powdered sugar (more if the frosting seems too loose)

•1 teaspoon coconut extract

•2 tablespoons seedless blackberry jam

•violet gel food coloring

 

Additionally:

•shredded coconut, for garnish

•fresh blackberries, for garnish

•extra Malibu Coconut Rum to soak the berries in

•granulated sugar for the berries

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, milks, rum and coconut extract, just until combined and then for .

3. Fill the prepared liners 3/4 full and bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool completely.

4. Using cup caking coring tool (or small paring knife) cut out some of the center of the cupcake – don’t go all the way to the liner. 

5. After cupcakes are completely cooled, use a teaspoon to spoon a small amount of the jam into the center of each cupcake.

  
 

To make the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1.Place the butter, cream cheese, and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy.

2.Add the blackberry jam and violet gel food coloring to the frosting and mix until combined. Transfer the tinted frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip.

3.Pipe a swirl of the tinted frosting over the cupcake, top with shredded coconut and last, but certainly not least, a rum soaked berry, after you roll it in sugar.

These cupcakes taste as good as they look! The dish that I put the cupcake in for the photo is one of the new Pioneer Woman measuring bowl set. I’m obsessed with them!