Martha's Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

I was shopping at Sprouts and I found Meyer lemons on sale so I decided to make one of Martha's favorites on page 121.

They really must be one of Martha's favorites since they make 42 cupcakes!!!

I personally have never seen/tasted/heard of Meyer lemons before and to me they looked like tangerines.

whisk together 3 1/2 cups flour, 1.2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp coarse salt and two tablespoons finely graded lemon zest together in a bowl. Then in a mixer mix together 3 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter and 3 cups sugar. Once pale and fluffy beat in 8 oz of cream cheese. Reduce to low speed and mix in 7 large eggs one at a time. Then beat in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tsp vanilla. Then put into liners and and cook at 325 for 28 minutes rotating halfway.

Then for the lemon curd combined 2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites and 2/3 cup lemon juice in a heat proof bowl over simmering water. Cook, whisking together constantly until mixture is thick and coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and mix in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces. Then strain through a small sieve into another bowl. I made this all the night before so you then need to put a piece of parchment paper pressing directly on top of the curd to prevent a film from forming.

Now you know how when you eat something you really like then immediately get the stomach flu you no longer like it? Well that is my relationship with Martha's Meyer Lemon cupcakes. I ate a few that night which is WAY more than any other cupcake I have made. But they were light and fluffy and.....blah sorry I can't even talk about it honestly. About 10pm that night I came down with the stomach bug that was floating around our house and....well...let's just say that I will never eat a Meyer lemon again.

But I am so dedicated to my cupcake love that I dragged my pale pathetic butt out of bed and and breathed only through my nose pulled out the lemon curd out and put it in a pastry bag to insert lemon curd into each cupcake and then let it overflow to the top. It might have looked better if I didn't feel so crappy but hey it is what it is. I was so anxious to get these cupcakes out of my house that I put them in my holder and placed them outside for my friend Amber to take to church and hand out to the girls.
On a level of difficulty I would say that these were fairly easy.

I can't talk about the taste.

My buds are a bit tainted.

But everyone else said they were good.

My husband still swears the raspberry cheesecakes are the best so I am going to have to make those again this week and I like the idea of sticking something in the middle if they are sunken again.

And can I just say how much fun this whole project has been? I have gotten SO much better at baking. Even though I still have a long way to go I feel like I am making progress and I am really excited about that.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I was throwing a baby shower for my friend Trena yesterday and I knew I wanted to make two different kinds of cupcakes. I decided to make one I had already done and a new one. I chose Orange Vanilla Bean because Trena had one and said she liked them and what a pregnant woman wants a pregnant woman gets :)

She also mentioned she liked white cupcakes so I decided to go with Snickerdoodle.

The only problem with the Orange Vanilla Bean was that I was going to have to make the dreaded Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

So I watched this video posted by Stephanie and prepped myself mental for the task.

I first put everything out just because that is what she did in the video.

(Ps I have spent over 98.oo on butter since starting this project so I simply can not afford all these failed attempts at swiss meringue)

So here is my one cup sugar and my 2 pounds of butter.
So I did my egg whites, then added the butter and...it was ALL runny AGAIN!!!

So I tossed it.

Errrr!

SO I did it again.

This time I switched to the Paddle attachment like the video says(and Martha does not say).

After I added the butter it got really runny again and I was all but crying(and I am being serious) I felt that it HAD to be me. What the heck! So I just threw the rest of the butter in and flipped the switch to heck a fast and left. When I came back 15 minutes later....

I DID IT!!!

I think I wasn't letting it whip long enough after adding the butter.

Or maybe it's the paddle attachment

Or maybe I am just incompetent when it comes to baking.

Either way I DID IT!

I was so proud.

And my Orange Vanilla Bean Cupcakes looked fantastic!

So then it was on to Snickerdoodle.

I got WAY to excited about my Swiss Meringue that I forgot to take pictures of the steps to make the Snickerdoodle.

And I am including the recipe because I had a few asking for it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

On medium-high speed cream 2 sticks of room temp unsalted butter, 1 3/4 cup sugar until pale and fluffy. Then add 4 eggs(at room temp) one at a time. Then beat in 2 tsp vanilla. Reduce to low speed and add flour mixture(1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup cake flour, 1 tblspn baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tblspn of cinnamon) in to the mixture in three batches alternating with 1 1/4 cup milk. Then fill up the cupcake liners 3/4 the way full(I do a little higher) and bake for about 20 minutes rotating half way through and you done!

Simple.

Now the frosting.

Which is always the most tricky.

Except this frosting was called 7 minute frosting so in my head I thought it only took 7 minutes so it must be easy. Right?

I must have forgot I am baking Martha's book here.

I think she makes things complicated for kicks.

So you take 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then 2/3 cup water and 2 tablespoons of corn syrup and heat until 230 degrees(side note I LOVE trader joes but their dishwasher detergent will make your pots look like this)

Then you beat 6 large egg whites until fluffy peaks form. Once the peaks have formed add two tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat. Once the syrup mixture reaches 230 degrees you set the mixer to medium-high and pour the syrup mixture down the side in a slow constant stream. Once you have poured the entire mixture in you let the mixer keep beating until the bottom of the bowl is cooled. Which apparently takes 7 minutes thus the name but took more like 15 minutes. So the entire process took about 30 minutes or so.

7 minutes by butt.

Anyways.

The frosting was DELICIOUS and came out looking great which is an accomplishment for me in itself.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and your done.
I dipped some strawberries as well and my dessert spread was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.


I shared my cupcake love with these girls especially the expectant mother in the middle who is having a little boy next month.
On a tasty level I would say that the snickerdoodle were a 9.

Really tasty.

On the skill level I would say the actual cupcake was easy the frosting was a little tricky so I would say medium.

But all in all I would say you need to go make these very soon.

Raspberry marble cheesecake cupcakes

So here is yet another one to repeat!

It was my first time cooking cupcakes in a bath in the oven.

It didn't go so well..
I don't know if you can tell but they are COMPLETELY sunken in.

They looked like they were poor sick cupcakes.

The ironic part my husband said they were the best he has tasted yet.

But since they were so ugly I couldn't bring myself to serve them to anyone else.

So I will try these again next week and see if I can't master this whole cooking in a bath thing.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with Gumdrops

I honestly sit in bed at night and read this book as if it's a novel. As a matter of fact I nominate for next months book club ;)

Just kidding.

Anyways. I was going to visit teach my friend Shawna this week and she told me that she is more of chocolate person than a fruit person so I decided to go with the One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. The first reason being that I wanted to make chocolate and the second reason was the One Bowl part really got me. I swear my kitchen looks like a tornado after making all of Martha's cupcakes.
So you basically combine flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla and water into a bowl and mix. SO EASY!


Bake at 350 degrees for about 17 minutes and there you have it...

So I made them the night before and set them out to cool. Mind you my son was fast asleep.

So when I get back I see this...

And then this....
This little sinker seriously ate like 3 cupcakes and then destroyed a few more. Good thing I was taking this to just one person and it only made 13 cupcakes. So I didn't feel to horrible taking over a few less....then the next day while I was turned around making the frosting(the disaster I will talk about in a minute) this little stinker climbed over the baby gate and so quietly climbed up the cabinet and polished off two more! Errrr. I swear he knows he is being so bad because he does it so sneakily but there is just something about cupcakes that brings out the worst in him.

Anyways.

Honestly I was going to for go the whole gum drop thing because the idea made me want to gag(no I am not pregnant) but then I thought if I am going to do Martha's reciepes then I have to do what is written. SO I went to two flippin grocery stores to find gum drops but everyone had assorted spice drops and Martha's specifically said gum drops. I swear my grocer probably runs the other way when he sees me.

He is probably thinking "Lady you have shopped here for years and why now are you buggin me about all these random things that I have no idea where they are because I try not to work to hard."

Okay okay that is kind of mean...true...but mean.

Anyways.

I found strawberry gum drops and I went with it.

Then it was the frosting.

See post below.

I can't even tell you how many batches I did.

How much flippin butter I wasted

How many flippin eggs I wasted.

I could NOT achieve the fluff it's was runny.

I watched a video and I can see where I could change a few little things that will hopefully make a difference.

If not I am going to have to in-list the help of a professional because I will NOT let Swiss Buttercream Meringue beat me. I WILL NOT!

(three batches later)

Since it was now only 20 minutes before I was supposed to leave I decided to just curse the entire frosting thought and went with fluffy vanilla which is confection sugar, butter and vanilla. Even I can't screw that up.

By the time I let my husband have one and my kids split one I was left with 6 cupcakes.

I could not bring myself to put the gumdrops on top because...well okay because it just made the cupcake look like a boob. I don't know why but it just did and I did not want to visit my friend with book cupcakes. Nope. I just wasn't going to do it. I already screwed the recipe up with the frosting so I just stuck the gum drops in a bag and brought them to Shawna.

As far as difficulty I would say the cupcakes are SO easy.

Probably the easiest in the book.

The frosting is more complicated but I think it tasted good with the vanilla frosting.

I am NOT a chocolate person at all if you couldn't tell my all my fruit choices already so I couldn't really tell you how the taste was. My husband who is all about everything chocolate said they were okay he thinks they need more chocolate. Shawna said she liked them and those are who I made them for so that is what counts :)

I am going to have to make these again.

My goal is when I mess up to make it again until it turns out.

SO I will keep these gum drops handy.

(even though I am munching on them as I type)

UGH!!!!

Has anyone made Martha's Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting??

I swear every stinking time I make it comes out runny.

Every flippin stinking time.

I am on my third batch as I type.

Two batches down the sink.

It's very very fruserating.

So if you have made it

Or you have some ideas

Please oh please

walk me through it.

I seem to be completely and totally helpless in this department.

Ugh!

Recipe

Combine 5 large egg whites, 1 cup plus 2 tbl of sugar and pinch of salt in a heat proof bowl of a standing mixer and set on top of a simmering pan of water mixing continuously. (done)

Remove once the mixture is rubbery to the touch (done)

Attach bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low gradually increasing to medium-high whisk until stiff peaks form. Continue mixting until mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool. (done)

Which I feel like the moment I add the butter it get's all liquid.

With mixer on medium-low speed add 4 stick of butter one tlb spoon at a time. Once all butter has been added whisk in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Switch to paddle attachment and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated about two minutes.

Ps-If you leave a comment talking about how easy it is and how wonderful yours always turn out I might have to mentally slap you upside the head.

Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

First off my poor mom has been SO busy taking care of my sick grandma who on top of her radiation just started Chemo this week as well. So needless to say she is VERY busy with that. But I just wanted to say I love you Momma and Happy Mother's Day!!!

I have recruited some extra help in our little project so hopefully our extra Baker will keep this going because it's been SO much fun!

I have even had several people say they decided to get Martha's Cupcake book and start trying some of the recipes themselves which is super fun. I am really excited to get through even more recipes and I have my eye on Martha's cookie book next ;)

Like I said I am really drawn to the fruit recipes. My husband can't wait for me to get through all these "froofy" cupcakes and get some good "real" cupcakes which apparently must have chocolate in them.
I picked Vanilla-Beach Cupcakes on page 145. For some reason this just looked really yummy to me. The ironic part is that I don't really eat the cupcakes I make. I just have a little bite to make sure they taste alright.
First thing first I NEEDED to get myself a new whisk. This blue whisk just wasn't cutting it anymore. Can you see why....

I decided to make the candied oranges for the top and frosting first. For the candied oranges you simple cut oranges into thin slices(the book says 1/8 inch and honestly you don't want to go any thicker or any thiner)


I also was on a mad hunt to find vanilla beans. For some reason I was picturing them in the produce isle. Turns out they are in the spice isle and crazy expensive. Luckily I found them at Sprouts for only $3.30 a piece.
To make the candied oranges you simple boil one cup water one cup sugar and stick the orange slices in and wait until they start to get a little translucent.


I was seriously multi-tasking by making my oranges AND getting the Swiss Meringue frosting going. Which is taking 5 large egg whites, 1 cup sugar and a pinch of salt to a smooth consistency on the double boiler.
NOW in the book Martha says take all the candied oranges out stick them in a container and then pour the remaining glaze all over them. This is exactly what I did. Then I thought about it for a second and realized that once the glaze cooled there was no way in heck I was getting those Oranges out. So luckily I grabbed the oranges out before it was completely cooled and I am glad I did because I lost a few that were already cooled. When I make this again I will put them on parchment paper.

Then I got to the cupcakes which had some grated orange zest, fresh squeezed orange juice, heavy whipping cream and vanilla beans. Ohhh my kitchen smelled SO good.



So I have NEVER ever ever cut a vanilla bean before. It says to cut length wise and take out the beans. So as soon as I cut it length wise I didn't see any kind of bean. So I quickly went on YouTube and found this.


I love the internet.:)

Now you might remember before that I had a hard time with the meringue, but luckily this time I was able to accomplish the "fluff" that was really lacking before. I found that the trick is to add the butter before it reaches the peak level. I still didn't add the full four sticks of butter simply because I think it still taste great with just three and I am not trying to kill my recipients.

The cupcakes turned out cute. The candied Orange on top really adds to the look but I was thinking that everyone would probably just take it off and eat the cupcake. However it seems that everyone loved the candied orange on top. The people who got ones that had a thicker grind suggested I make it thinner so again if you are going to make this I really recommend cutting them thin but not TO thing because they will break when you candy them.
All in all I would say the recipe was medium on the easy scale and I only say this because there is SO many components to it. From making the frosting to candy oranges it took a total of 4 hours from start to finish which is a lot of time to devote to cupcakes.

I would say they were VERY tasty. Everyone said that they tasted a lot less dense then my previous cupcakes which means I am getting better ;)

I gave my cupcake love to the women/mothers at church.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

So my first attempt at these cupcakes failed miserably.
I did several things wrong and I had to tweak the recipe a bit.
So here we go.
Page 118.
I chose these because who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate?

First off combine 2/3 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.

Then take your mixing bowl set it on top of a boiling pot of water and combined 1 stick butter(I cut them in really small cubes so they melted quicker) and Martha says put in 4 ounces of semi sweet chocolates and 2 ounces of unsweetened. NOW the first time I did this I followed exactly what Martha said. But see Martha must be a bitter lover because these turned out way too bitter for my taste SO this time around I added only one ounce of unsweetened and 5 ounces of semi sweet.

Then once everything is mixed in and cooled add in 3/4 cup sugar and 3 large eggs. Then stir in vanilla and flour mixture.

Don't you love my motion sickness wrist band? I was still rocking from my 5 day cruise.

Then you place about 2 tablespoons of mixture in the liners.

Then in a different bowl you combine 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 cup confection sugar, 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla. NOW the second time around I actually added more sugar because I felt that the peanut butter needed to be a little more sweet.

You then put the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate mixture and then add another spoonful of chocolate on top of that making a chocolate peanut butter sandwich so to speak. Then take a toothpick and swirl it around to get the whole swirl effect.

Now when making these you really can't fill them up to high. That was my biggest problem when making it the first time. They don't rise like a normal cupcake. Now the first time I made them, even though they looked horrible I took them to my book club girls....

(we read The Help and that is me holding Minny's pie)

They love me even if I serve them nasty cupcakes. :)

Even thought the general consensus was that they were pretty good. Not good, but pretty good.

The second time they turned out much better and I served them to my other book club girls(sorry no picture) and they all loved them. My husband who tried both batches said that the second batch was much better and was his favorite cupcake by far. Which isn't saying too much because he isn't a fan of fruit cupcakes and that is what I have been making :)

So overall I would say that they were a bit tricky. Only because I had to make them twice before they tasted good.

As I said I gave my cupcake love to all my book club girls.

Now tomorrow I am attempting the Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.

I think these will either be really good or horrible.

It's by far the most complicated recipe to date.

I am doing my studying tonight in order to prepare for tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

PS has anyone ever candied oranges before?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

Well you win some and then....

you lose some.

Oh Martha.
It's the double boiler craziness that threw me off.
But don't worry I attempted again and they were MUCH better.
That post soon to follow

Erin: Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting

My poor mom has been completely occupied taking care of her poor mom this week so she hasn't been able to make any cupcakes. Hopefully my grandma will be feeling better this week!

I chose this recipe(page 26) because I was making it for a little girls 5th birthday(more on that later) and they seemed like a yummy take on a more traditional white cake.

I made these Friday night just hours after stepping off a 5 day(very rocky) cruise. I was literally swaying in the kitchen as I was trying make these. It was....interesting.

Looking down at the book proved to be a bit of a challenge so I popped in a Dramamine and put on my sea sick wrist bands and got to work.
This recipe called for course salt. This is the first recipe that asked for course salt. I was tempted to just use regular salt but I didn't want to mess these up. SO I forked out the $$ for stinking course salt to use (1 1/2 tsp). So here is my question to the bakers out there.

1)What does course salt do?

2)What will happen if I don't use it?

I guess you could combine those two questions but honestly I am still a little loopy over here so my mind isn't working exactly right.
ANYWAYS.

(I was going to put down the recipe but like I said I am not all there right now. So if you would like me to put down the recipe let me know and I will go ahead and post it later)

I got this little doohickey when I got married almost 7 years ago and didn't even realize what it was! But I found it very helpful in separating eggs. I am most certainly going to use this in the future.
This made a LOT of cupcakes. Which is awesome for a birthday party. The recipe says 36 but I am finding that I like to fill the liners up a little more in order to achieve that cupcake top so I wound up with 28(lost two to the floor...oops)

The cupcakes were pretty tasty. You could really taste the buttermilk in it.

It almost reminded me of a fluffy pancake.

The frosting is more of a traditional vanilla frosting.


I gave my cupcake love to Miss Regan Presley who had a birthday earlier this week.

Julie(Regans mom) is a super mom who I felt could use a little help this week and I was SUPER excited to be able to share some cupcake love with her!

All in all I would say that the recipe was medium/easy. Maybe I found it more challenging because I was dizzy but I think it is worth the little extra effort because I am finding that the box cupcake mixes just don't taste as good to me anymore.

I have a snobby tongue now I guess :)

I put a big star next to this page because I will be making this one again!