Raspberry and Blackberry Spelt Cupcakes (with Berry Cream Cheese Frosting)
These raspberry and blackberry spelt cupcakes have soft vanilla sponge and a swirl of fresh homemade berry sauce. They are finished off with decadent cream cheese frosting (with more berries).
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These cakes are divine. With a capital D. In fact, there are many words beginning with D that I could use to describe them: decadent, delicious and downright more-ish. I absolutely love berries in cakes and desserts. Especially when it is summer and the berries are ripe and juicy.
There is nothing complicated in this recipe. It is straight forward and very adaptable.
Alternatives for cream cheese frosting
I rarely make deliriously sweet, thick frostings. I am much more of an icing or drizzle kind of girl. But sometimes, the recipe just calls for something a little more decadent. This recipe was originally made for my former blog, The Culinary Jumble (way back in 2017). In that recipe, there was a cream cheese frosting. I did pause half way through and consider just giving them a sprinkling of icing sugar and a couple of berries for decoration. But I had some lovely berry sauce just waiting to be used. So, in for a penny; in for a pound.
If you don’t want to use cream cheese for these raspberry and blackberry spelt cupcakes, you could just make a buttercream. My son simply refuses to eat anything he believes might contain cream cheese, so it is rare I use it in baking. When it does happen, I have to eat all the cakes myself. Oh, what a shame.
As mentioned above, I prefer a thin icing or drizzle, and you could absolutely do something similar to what I did for my Swedish lime and blackberry mud cake or orange drizzle cake. Alternatively, just eat them as they are. Although it’s law to have some kind of frosting on a cupcake, who doesn’t love a rule breaker? Seriously though, the berries make them feel more like a muffin than cake, so just scoff them naked. That’s the cakes, not you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I need to make berry sauce?
No, not at all. In my original recipe I used jam. I find fresh fruit, especially blackberries, gives a more vivid hue to the frosting, but jam would definitely work. It’s worth making, though. There’s nothing more complicated than heating the berries up.
Can I use regular flour in place of spelt flour?
Yes, absolutely. I talk quite a bit about how it makes no difference, but I understand that not everyone has spelt flour at home. Just do a straight swap with plain (all-purpose) flour.
Can I double the recipe?
This is a recipe for six cupcakes (and baked in a six hole muffin tin). However, you could easily double the measurements to make 12.
This recipe features in my 31 spectacular spelt flour cake recipes. Which one is your favourite?
Raspberry and Blackberry Spelt Cupcakes (with Berry Cream Cheese Frosting)
Ingredients
Berry Sauce:
- 120g (4¼ oz) fresh berries (see note 1)
Cupcakes:
- 75g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) butter (softened)
- 75g (¼ cup + 2 tbsp) sugar
- 1 egg (medium)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 100g (⅚ cup) spelt flour (see note 2)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Berry Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 100g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) cream cheese
- 30g (2 tbs) butter (softened)
- 2 tbs berry sauce
- icing / powdered /confectioners' sugar (see note 3)
Instructions
Berry Sauce:
- Add the fresh berries to a pan with one tablespoon of water.
- Gently heat them until they start to bubble.
- Cook for a minute or two, just until you are able to squish them with a fork.
- When you have been able to mush the berries, take them off the heat and allow to cool completely.
Cupcakes:
- Pre-heat the oven to 170℃ (338℉).
- Prepare a muffin tin by greasing or lining with paper cases.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a couple of minutes (until the mixture changes from dark to paler yellow).
- Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda and then stir in to the wet ingredients.
- Finally, add the lemon juice and mix in.
- Divide between six cupcake cases to half way full (they rise a lot).
- Remove two tablespoons of berry sauce and set to one side.
- With the remaining sauce, dollop around one teaspoon on the top of each cupcake and using a knife or skewer, gently swirl it in a little.
- Bake for around 16-18 minutes in the lower part of the oven. The cakes are ready when an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
Berry Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat the cream cheese and butter together.
- Add the retained berry sauce and beat it in.
- Add as much icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar needed to create the desired consistency (see note 3).
- Slather over (or pipe) the top of the cupcakes and add a couple of berries as decoration. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use any berries you like (even frozen). If you don't want to go to the trouble of making a sauce, just use jam (any kind).
- You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
- The amount of icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar depends on how thick you want your frosting. Just add as much as needed to reach the desired consistency. For frosting that can be piped, you will need at least 260g (2 cups).