Wild Blueberry Tender Little Cakes With A Lickable Vanilla Swirl

 Meaghan and Theo were married in Mexico, two years ago. Most of our family and friends were unable to attend so we decided to throw a big party for them last summer, here at the farm. Georgie, named by his grand daughters, was asked to toast Meaghan and Theo at the reception. He decided he’d honour the newlyweds, instead, by speaking directly to the unborn babe that Meaghan was carrying. Dad is an awesome story-teller, but on that particular dreamy summer evening, his heartfelt speech spoke to every beating heart under that white, billowy tent. Even the burly men in our family teared up. There’s something magical about listening to a great-grandfather openly declare his love and dreams for his unborn great-grandson. Who wouldn’t want to be loved like that?

This summer, once again, Dad caused me to well up, as I stood quietly watching him walk Coen in the cool grass. I could hear Dad’s gentle conversation and the baby laughing. I thought about how close we came to losing these precious moments last winter when Dad fell off the roof and broke most of him. Life is so precious and there’s nothing like cheating death and a new baby to prove it.

Part of the fun of being Grammy is getting to make special treats for your grandchildren. This weekend, Coen ate his first cupcake. It was a riot watching his little eyes light up as he tasted the creamy vanilla frosting. He couldn’t shove the cake in fast enough! I tried to take a picture, but he was too fast. This is my mom’s recipe. They’re one of my family’s favourite summer desserts.

WILD BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES WITH VANILLA FROSTING
Makes 12 cupcakes
Preheat oven to 425*F

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 3 times before measuring – spoon the flour in to the measuring cup and level with a straight edge.
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 1 heaping cup wild blueberries dusted with flour

THE STEPS:

1. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners
2. Sift pre-sifted flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
3. Beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat eggs in, one at a time and fluffy
5. Beat in vanilla.
6. Fold in flour mixture and milk in thirds, alternatively, ending with milk.
7. Gently fold in flour dusted blueberries trying to avoid crushing the blueberries.
8. Spoon into cupcake liners to the top.
9. Place in oven for 5 minutes.
10. Without opening oven door, reduce oven heat to 350.
11. Check cupcakes at 18 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the centre of one cupcake. The toothpick should come out clean.
12. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack for ten minutes.
13. Remove from muffin pan, then place back on cooling rack until completely cooled.

THE LOVE: It’s really important to dust the blueberries with just a smidge of flour. It keeps the berries from sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes.

VANILLA FROSTING
Enough for 12 cupcakes

• 2 ½ cups icing sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons whole milk

THE STEPS:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Beat on high-speed with electric hand-mixer or in a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Divide and spread evenly between cupcakes.

THE LOVE: Make sure each cupcake has enough frosting to lick off!

Thanks for reading.