Lingonberry & Cardamom Cupcakes

The inspiration for this cupcake came from two places. First, I had Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Preserves at the Original Pancake House the other day & thought lingonberries would be good in a cupcake. So, off to Ikea to buy a jar. Second, I had bought a jar a cardamom for the Royal Foodie Joust & decided I needed to find some other uses for it. Cardamom is often used in Scandinavian sweets so it makes sense to pair it with the ligonberries.

I used a basic white cupcake batter & flavored it with the cardamom & used the ligonberry preserves as a filling. This cupcake was delicious & the smell of the cardamom mouth-watering. The slight tartness of the lingonberries works perfectly with the sweetness of the cupcake & frosting.
I had some trouble with the frosting (frosting seems to be my downfall). I thought a sour cream frosting would work well with these flavors but since I didn't have sour cream I decided to substitute yogurt. I've done this in batters & its worked just fine but for a frosting I should have drained the yogurt through some cheesecloth first because it was too wet. Then I added some preserves to the frosting which also added more liquid. So, I had to keep adding more & more powdered sugar to get a nice consistency (I actually ran out of sugar before it was perfect) which took away any of the slight sourness from the yogurt anyway. The frosting tasted good in the end but next time I'll either make a cream cheese frosting for these or just do a plan white buttercream.

Lingonberry and Cardamon Cupcakes
recipe adapted from White Cupcakes by Clare Crespo

3 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t ground cardamom
2/3 c unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c milk
1 t vanilla
1/4 c lingonberry preserves (you may need a slightly more)

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare 18-20 muffin tins. Shift the flour, baking powder, salt & cardamom together. In another bowl, cream the butter gradually adding the sugar until light & fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well each time. In a small bowl combine the milk & vanilla. Alternate adding the flour mixture & the milk mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time. Mix well between each addition.
Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the batter into the bottom of each prepared muffin tin. Spoon a rounded teaspoon of lingonberry preserves on top of the batter. Top the preserves with another tablespoon of batter. Cupcake tin should be about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until cupcake is beginning to brown & firm. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Makes 18 - 20 cupcakes (this recipe halved really well)

I won't bother sharing the frosting recipe I used because it really didn't work. Just use your favorite white frosting with these.