Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes

It's been a busy start to September mainly because I was away in Venice to celebrate my birthday over the weekend. I had a lovely chocolate dome cake from a bakery there on my birthday which was absolutely delicious! I was so excited I didn't even take a picture before tucking in. 

I love birthdays and I tend to have prolonged celebrations each year. Obviously a birthday is not really a birthday without cake and lots of it! On my return I decided to bake some cupcakes to continue the celebrations. I chose these flavours so I could enter them into several blogging challenges this month. I initially wanted to bake the cake with blackberry jam but just couldn't find it in the shops.  Lots of blackcurrant jam but no blackberry jam! I did however find some bramble jelly which is made from blacberries so I've incorporated that into the recipe. 

I adapated a recipe from BBC Good Food and it turned out beautifully. The cake was light and chocolatey but not overly so. You can clearly taste the blackberries and I loved the jelly in the middle. The icing was my favourite part as it uses blackberry puree for the flavour and colour. Everyone thought they were really good and they disappeared really quickly. I have some leftover frosting so I will be baking them into cookies. I've never had a blackberry cookie before so I'm quite excited to try it out.

I'm sending this to a few challenges this month.

AlphaBakes hosted by myself this month and Caroline from Caroline Makes on alternate months. The letter this month is J for Jelly.

We Should Cocoa hosted by Kate from The Veg Space on behalf of Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is blackberries.

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. The theme this month is cakes as it's also Dom's birthday in September. Happy Birthday in advance Dom!

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is anything goes. 

The Vegetable Palette and Fruit Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is Purple and Blues.

 The mixture is very liquid but don't worry. I love the colour of the blackberries. 

 adding a generous layer of jelly before baking 

 after baking 

 I love that you can see a bit of the jelly poking out under the gorgeous frosting which is has a really pretty colour and tastes good too! 

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food

For the cupcakes - makes 15 cupcakes

300g blackberries, divided into two portions of 150g each 

100g butter

100g milk chocolate

225g self raising flour

175g coconut sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 eggs

100mls boiling water 

For the frosting

100g butter

400g icing sugar

Blackberry puree - see recipe

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Place 150g blackberries in a bowl and roughly crush with a fork so the juices are running but there are still chunky bits of fruit left.
• In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate and allow to cool slightly. 
• Crack 2 eggs into the chocolate-butter mixture and whisk briefly. 
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar and coocoa powder.
• Mix the wet and dry ingredients together adding in the crushed blackberries. Add the boiling water and mix well. The mixture will be very liquid at this stage. 
• Divide the cake mixture between the cupcake cases and fill until approximately 2/3 full.
• Place a large spoonful of bramble jelly on top of each cupcake.
• Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• To make the frosting, place the remaining 150g blackberries in a food processor and whizz until pureed.
• Place in a strainer and strain the pureed blackberries. 
• Beat the butter and icing sugar together until smooth - about 5 minutes in an electric mixer.
• Add in the sieved blackberry puree and mix well.
• Decorate the cake using a piping bag and piping nozzle. 

Lemongrass and Lime Sorbet

I had some friends round for a meal recently and I planned a Thai/Asian themed meal. I was debating what to make for dessert when my mum suggested a lemongrass and lime sorbet. She tested the recipe and I tweaked it further to come up with this recipe. I've never made my own sorbet before and it's actually really simple. I'll definitely be making lots of sorbet especially in the summer months. I made some lime jelly to go with the sorbet and my guests were really impressed. The lemongrass flavour is subtle and you can definitely taste the lime. The sorbet was really refreshing and the jelly provided a different texture and addtional lime flavour to the dessert. 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which I am hosting with Caroline from Caroline Makes who hosts on alternate months. The letter this month is S for sorbet. 

I'm also sending this to Bloggers Scream For Ice Cream hosted by Kavey from Kavey Eats. This is my first time entering this challenge as I've never made ice creams or sorbets before. The theme this months is dairy free which is perfect for my sorbet recipe.

 sugar, lemongrass, limes, lime jelly and an egg white (optional) 

 boil lemongrass with sugar and water 

 making the lime jelly

 sorbet in syrup form ready to go in the freezer 

 looks like a margarita at this point

 whizz in a food processor and it looks like sorbet! 

 served with lime jelly and a slice of lime

An original recipe by bakingaddict
Makes approximately 500mls

150g caster sugar
750mls water
6 stalks lemongrass
juice and zest of 4 limes
1 egg white (optional)
1 pack of lime jelly to serve (optional)

• Cut the lemongrass in half or thirds. Use the back of a knife to bash the firm end of the lemongrass. You should get a strong lemongrass fragrance.
• Place the water, sugar and lemongrass in a pan and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes to allow the lemongrass flavour to infuse. 
• Zest and juice 4 limes. Keep the zest aside for now.
• After the sugar syrup has cooled, add the lime juice and stir.
• Allow to cool completely before adding the lime zest.
• Add in the egg white if using.
• Place in a container and freeze for a few hours but preferably overnight.
• Make up the lime jelly if using following the instructions on the packet. 
• Scrape the frozen mixture with a fork to loosen and place into a food processor. 
• Whizz until it's white and smooth. 
• Place it back in the same container and freeze again until set.
• Serve with lime jelly and a wedge of fresh lime.