Cupcake 69 - Lemon Cupcakes with French Buttercream

Wonderful cupcakes, one of my favorite so far. The French Buttercream didn't work so well for me, the syrup seized up (I think that's the term candy makers use) I forged ahead, hoping for a viable result. It was wonderfully silky and white, but crunchy. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to be.

Cupcakes
3 c AP flour
3 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c butter, room temperature
3 c sugar
1/2 t vanilla
5 eggs, room temperature
zest of 2 lemons
1 1/2 c sour cream

Preheat oven to 325. Line wells of three cupcake pans/36 cupcakes with liners.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In bowl of standing mixer whip butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and mix well. Add zest and vanilla, continue beating. Add eggs one at a time. Alternately add sour cream and flour, mixing well between each addition. Bake 20-24 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Lemon Syrup
1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar
3 T lemon juice
Zest of one lemon

In small sauce pan, combine ingredients, heat to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 20 minutes until reduced by 1/2. Allow to cool.

Lemon French Buttercream
1 c sugar
1/4 c water
3 egg whites
10 ounces butter, room temperature
3/4 t vanilla
zest of one lemon

Combine sugar and water in saucepan. Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Continue to boil and stir until temperature reaches 240. While syrup is boiling whip egg whites until they are thick and light in color. When syrup reaches 240, slowly pour (in thin stream) into whites whipping constantly. Beat in butter a little at time. Add vanilla and zest, whip on high. I frosting is soft, refrigerate until firm.

Candied Lemon Zest

To assemble
Poke holes in tops of cupcakes with wooden skewer. Brush cupcake tops with lemon syrup. Frost with buttercream, top with zest.

Cupcake 68 - Orange Clove

Wonderful cupcake! I would have never paired oranges and cloves on my own, but it worked. Thanks Garrett! The candied orange peel was the perfect bit of crunch and burst of flavor. I got really good feedback. After last week's cupcake train wreck I'm happy to be baking.

A gentle warning, if you want to whip up a batch of these, you will need to plan a bit ahead to go through the steps to get the orange peel candied. Not labor intensive by any means, just takes a little time.

Cupcake 67 - Ewww

Part of my day job is to procure tchotckes. This week it was lollipops. Blue lollipops for a client. In the world of advertising, clients have colors that identify their brand, and in an effort to stay true to their brand they often choose to match food items and logos. This client's logo is blue. Blue lollipops do not taste like anything. They taste umm... sweet.

Same deal with this week's cupcake. It tastes sweet. Not a trace taste from the key ingredients - white chocolate, wassail or cranberry. Only sweet. I was going for a rich, super spicy, fruity thing. Maybe pink cupcakes, after all the big Valentine's Day was nipping at my heels. Nope. The were gray, moist, dense, no particular taste. Nothing that screamed undying love, Hallmark cards and overpriced flowers.

I'll own up, I was using some of the odd things people have given me - a bottle of Wassail-ed wine (I hate hot drinks, hot wine has no appeal) a jar of homemade "cranberry smear" (I think the idea is to spread it on sandwiches and muffins. I'm not a condiment person.) And a huge hunk of white chocolate (for me this is not chocolate and generally wrong and useless.) I don't mean to be ungrateful, really. I try to put these gifts to use, but I struggle and more often than not should just walk away.

No need to post the recipe, you should never make these. Save your butter, sugar, sour cream for something tastier. You will be much happier. Lick a blue lollipop if you are curious about the taste. It's about the same.

Cupcake 66 - Carrot, Cardamom, Cashew

I admit it, I judge. I judge a restaurant by looking at the menu, a quick scan of the apps and dessert, I make my call. A dessert menu of cheesecake and carrot cake seems just a little too safe. If the dessert menu is built on the trio of cheesecake, carrot cake and anything with chocolate and lava. I'll pass. Don't get me wrong, I like carrot cake. It's just tired (if it's comfort food for you, I'm sorry.) No one ever challenges the status quo of the carrot cake - cinnamon, walnuts, cream cheese frosting. Cheesecake is at least a blank canvas for the "want to be" creatives - throw in some candy, or fruit, a little booze. Make the crust out any cookie scrap that's in the jar, finish it off with a drizzle of something, and voila–dessert. I don't agree that it all works, but at least its out there, an effort is made. Not so much with carrot cake. I don't see a Carrot Cake Factory at every mega mall. No one ever challenges the carrot cake.

Here's a bit of twist on the "tried and true." Thank you Garrett from Vanilla Garlic.

Carrot, Cardamom, Cashew



Makes 2 Dozen



1 c cashews, chopped, toasted
1 pound of carrots, grated
3 large eggs
1/2 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla
2 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
3 c AP flour
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t cardamom
1 t cinnamon

Preheat the oven for 350.

Mix the carrots, milk, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, together and whisk. 5) In another bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spice together. 6) Fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture. Then fold in the cashews. 7) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 19-21 minutes at 350. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Spiced Bourbon Frosting
8 ounces of cream cheese
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
1 teaspoon of bourbon

Whip the cream cheese for 3 minutes at high speed. Add the bourbon and cardamom and whip another minute. Add the powdered sugar and whip for 5 minutes. Spread onto cooled cupcakes.