Call Me Mellow Yellow - Lemon Cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Buttercream

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lemon Curds Recipe (make ahead of time and chill):
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter cut into pieces
Whisk together, add:
3 beaten eggs
Cook of medium heat stirring until thickened
chill in refrigerator for several hours

Cupcakes
1 yellow cake mix
1 small package of instant lemon pudding
4 egg whites
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
Mix all together, pour into cupcake pan (makes 24 cupcakes)
Bake at 325 degrees F until done (about 25 minutes)
Place on cooled rack


Buttercream Icing
1 cup butter, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
Cream butter, add water and lemon juice, mix well. Add Powdered sugar, mix for 5 minutes.

Assembling the cupcakes

Load lemon Curd into decorating bag with a 230 tip:                              

Insert tip in cupcake and squeeze 1 teaspoon of lemon curd into center of cupcake.

Using a tip 12 and decorating bag. Load icing into bag and swirl onto each cupcake

Decorate each cupcake with a royal icing daffodil

Fabulous Easter Cookies

Create cute Easter cookies with my favorite sugar cookie recipe and colored marshmallow fondant.

Sugar Cookies
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, add to mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing well between each addition.  Roll dough out on a flour surface to 3/8 inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutter.  Place cookies on parchment paper covered cookie sheets.   Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes. Place cookies on cooling racks.

Marshmallow fondant recipe can be found on my blog.  Use colored marshmallow fondant to cut out decorations. Apply to cookies by brushing on a small amount of corn syrup.   

Durable Cake for 3D in Chocolate

Durable Cake for 3D in Chocolate

Ingredients

• 1 box Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 small package instant chocolate pudding mix (pudding and cake should be same flavor – can do white cake and vanilla pudding, banana cake and banana pudding, etc)
  4 egg whites
  1/2 cup water
  1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  1 cup sour cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease and flour pans.  Or use Bake Ease

On low speed begin incorporating all ingredients together.

Once combined, give a very good stir with a spatula making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Turn mixer to medium and blend well for approximately 2 minutes.

The batter will be thick but don’t worry – this is normal.

Spoon equal amounts into pans and using spatula even out the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on oven. Toothpick inserted in center should come out clean and top should spring back when pressed.

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes in pan before turning out onto cooling racks.

Decorate as desired.

Mousseline Buttercream

Makes 4 ½ cups
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
5 large egg whites (to equal 5 fluid ounces – use glass measuring cup)
½ + 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 fluid ounces of liqueur such as Grand Marnier
            Alternatives: 1.for chocolate use 5 ounces of melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate
                                  2. 6 ounces melted and cooled white chocolate
                                  3. Add up to ¾ cup fruit puree or curd.

In a mixing bowl beat the butter until smooth and creamy and set aside in a cool place. 

Have ready a heatproof glass measure near the range. In a small heavy saucepan, heat ¾ cup sugar and ¼ cup water, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Stop stirring and reduce heat to low. (remove if using electric range).

In another mixing bowl beat the egg whites until foamy, add the cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised.  Gradually beat in the remaining ¼ cup sugar until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Increase the heat and boil the syrup until a thermometer registers 248F to 250F (firm ball stage). Immediately transfer syrup to glass measure to stop the cooking.

If using as hand held mixer beat the syrup into the whites in a steady stream. Don’t allow the syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of syrup over the whites with the mixer off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure cup. Lower the speed to medium and continue beating up to 2 minutes or until cool. If not completely cool, continue beating on lowest speed.

Beat in the butter at medium speed 1 tablespoon at a time. At first the mixture will seem thinner but will thicken beautifully by the time all the butter is added. If at any time the mixture looks slightly curdled, increase the speed slightly and beat until smooth before continuing to add more butter.

Lower the speed slightly and drizzle in the liqueur or other flavor. Place in airtight container.  Re-beat lightly from time to time to maintain silky texture.

Store: 2 days room temperature, 10 days refrigerated, 8 months frozen.  Allow to come to room temperature before re-beating.