Blueberry Cupcakes with Avocado-Lemon Frosting

Sometimes to make cupcakes you have to process a few blueberries.

It's summertime! hooray!

I felt as if I hadn't done a cupcake in a while (like, a really really long while) so the best way to ring in my new favorite of seasons seemed obvious. A nice, summery cupcake!

After toying with a few different ideas, I decided I wanted to do a blueberry cake with an avocado frosting. Why? I can't remember. But I do remember all of my friends shuddering in horror at the thought, thus making the challenge irresistible.

I came up with the following recipe:

1.5 - 2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch Kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
tsp vanilla
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
8 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp powdered ginger

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add dry and wet ingredients alternately. Fold in food-processed blueberries. Fill cake liners to nearly 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Folding, then scooping.

The cakes came out pretty well, except without that nice, domed rise. I have to figure out what I'm doing wrong there. Maybe not baking long enough, or overfilling my cake liners, or not using enough chemical leavening. . . . sigh. These technicalities escape me sometimes. Regardless, the cakes were tender and moist, with a beautifully vibrant blueberry flavor. I might use more ginger next time, but they were quite delicious.

Flat yet fine.

The frosting was really exciting for me. I figured that since avocado is so fatty it would be a good substitute for butter in a cream cheese frosting. I was also hoping to maintain that lovely green color by adding some acid, in the form of citrus. I wanted to use Meyer lemons, but was unable to find any.

Recipe:

2 ripe avocados
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 lemon's juice
vanilla

Mash avocados with lemon juice and vanilla. Add cream cheese and beat until incorporated. Slowly add sugar and beat until the mixture reaches frosting consistency. May adjust sugar and lemon to taste.

GREEN!

I was right about the color - it was awesome. And the flavor was nice. The brightness of the lemon came through at first taste, followed by a cool creaminess brought in by the avocado. Only about half of my tasters could actually identify the avocado in the frosting, actually. Nobody wanted to throw up after eating them, which is the important part. I actually got nothing but positive reviews of this recipe.

Man, I love the colors!

All in all I'm super happy with this recipe. Both elements of the cake stand alone in their flavors, and the flavors marry well together. The frosting did discolor after almost 2 days, but I think that's pretty good.