Cupcakes with dried blueberry slices and blackcurrant powder

Ingredients

(for my basic vanilla cupcake recipe)

120 g butter

3 eggs

130 g sugar

A few drops of pure vanilla essence

200 g self-rising flour

60 ml milk

 And then optional:

Fresh As Blackcurrant powder

Fresh As Dried blueberries slices

Makes 12 cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a 12-muffin tray with cupcakes paper cups.Melt the butter in a jug, either in the microwave or in the oven (while the oven is warming up for the cupcakes). Place the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk, using an electric beater, until the mixture looks light and pale yellow in colour. Slowly add the melted butter and the vanilla essence.

 Keep beating at a low speed now; add half of the flour followed by half of the milk. Add the rest of the flour and milk and keep beating making sure that there are no lumps. Divide the mixture into three and 'colour' on part with some blackcurrant powder (to make really purple!). Fill some cupcakes paper cups with the vanilla batter and blackcurrant batter to make two colour cupcakes, and simply add the blueberry slices to the remaining batter for blueberry cupcakes. You can also sprinkle a few berry slices on the top. 
 
Bake for about 18-20 minutes, until golden brown at the top. You can also check by inserting a toothpick into the cupcakes: if it comes out clean the cupcakes are ready. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and let them cool down. The blackcurrant cupcakes will look a bit "chocolatey" from the outside, but once you open them the purple colour will surprise you! No frosting needed!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©