I posted a similar recipe a couple of years ago. By then, I really didn’t have such a big following as I have now, so I didn’t take nice pictures or made a video about these. For my surprise, this recipe became very popular on Pinterest and many people have made them in the last couple of years.

Last night was the final episode of one of my favorite shows “This is Us”. This show has been very special to me because it is all about a family where the mother has Alzheimer’s, so I sat down every Tuesday with my glass of wine and enjoyed this show. I decided to make these cupcakes to celebrate the last episode and gave it a little purple-Ish color which is the Alz color.

About these cupcakes: chocolate and wine mini cakes with a touch of cinnamon and topped with a silky fresh blackberry buttercream. They are really really good.

If you want to watch how I made these, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Yield about 25 regular size cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large egg, at room temperature

3/4 cup milk or buttermilk

1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup red wine

For the frosting

6 oz fresh blackberries

2 teaspoons white granulated sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 and 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1-2 tablespoons of cream (heavy whipping cream)

For decorating

fresh blackberries

Directions

For the cupcakes:

1.- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare cupcake pan with paper liners. Set aside.

2.- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

3.- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix eggs, buttermilk, olive oil and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed for about a minute until combined.

4.- Add flour mixture to the bowl and combine on low speed, gradually increasing speed to medium, until completely combined. Add wine and beat to combine again for about 1 minute.

5.-Pour batter into prepared cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

6.- Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Be careful with how you handle the cupcakes, if they are still warm they can be soft and they can break.

For the frosting:

1.- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add blackberries, sugar and lemon juice, frequently stirring and squishing blackberries. Stir until blackberries are soft, about 10 minutes.
Push the mixture through a fine mesh strainer over a small bowl to remove all the seeds. Put the bowl in the fridge so it cools completely.

2.-In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth for a couple of minutes. Add 1 cup of powdered suga and half of the blackberry juice. Mix well until is fluffy. Add 1 tablespoon of the cream. Add more powdered sugar, mix well. Taste the buttercream and see if you need more of the blackberry juice, check the texture and flavor. I used almost all the juice. Beat well until completely combined and fluffy.

3.- Frost the cupcakes. I used Wilton 6B piping tip or you can use 1M.

If you live in a warm state like me, place these cupcakes in the fridge until ready to serve. The buttercream might get a bit hard so just take them out from the fridge about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!! Don’t forget to grab a glass of wine too. Cheers!