Cupcake Roses for Mom! :)



Happy Mother's Day to all you, hardworking Moms, everywhere in the world! I hope your family is sweet to you on this very special day, as you deserve it!!! Here is my greeting to you- some cupcake roses to brighten up and sweeten up your day! :)

Lemon CupcakesIngredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

zest of one large lemon

freshly squeezed juice from one large lemon

2-3 drops of lemon essential oil

1/2 cup milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners (for cupcakes). This recipe makes about 30 standard size cupcakes.

 

In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes).

Blend oil and sour cream. Add vanilla and lemon extracts, lemon zest,  lemon juice, and lemon essential oil. Mix to incorporate.

 

Add flour and milk, alternating- starting and finishing with flour.

Pour in muffin tins, filling each cupcake about 2/3 of the way. Bake 18-20 minutes or until they test done. Fill with Perfect Lemon Curd and frost with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipes below).

Perfect Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (it took me about 5-6 small lemons!)

1 tbsp. grated lemon zest

 

Directions:

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Mixture may look a little curdled at first but that's okay, it will smooth our later, I promise you. :) Finally, add lemon juice and zest and mix in to incorporate.

 

Using a double boiler, bring water in the bottom container to a gentle boil, and add mixture to the top container while stirring frequently in the beginning and almost constantly towards the end. Keep stirring over medium to medium-low heat until mixture thickens enough to hold marks from whisk, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Cool. Fill your cupcakes with about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of lemon curd per cupcake. This recipe is enough to fill about 30 cupcakes and can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated until ready to use (big bonus for me!).



 

Recipe for Perfect Lemon Curd adapted from: allrecipes.com

Lemon Cream Cheese FrostingIngredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 to 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon extract
2-3 drops of lemon essential oil (optional)
3-4 tsp heavy whipping cream (or more, if you prefer a thinner consistency)
a few drops of yellow food coloring, if desired

Directions: In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese at medium/high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, covering your mixer with the shield attachment or a kitchen towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen. :) Beat until well incorporated. Add lemon extract and essential oil and beat again for another minute or so. Finally, mix in whipping cream, one teaspoon at a time, until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. Add desired food coloring. I used Wilton's gel food colors: Rose (for the pink), Yellow, and some light green for the little leaves. For the roses, start the swirl from the center, working your way outwards. It's really simple but elegant. I hope you make someone very happy with these! :)

Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

These decadent cupcakes were a joint project Anna and I undertook for Easter. She baked the cupcakes and I made the lemon curd and the frosting. She made all the holes for the filling and I filled them. Eating them was a very joint project too! :) Enjoyed by not only the two of us, but everyone else present at the party. People asked to take some home too... How could we blame them? They were irresistible. So, here is the recipe we put together- for the whole world to enjoy too! Go ahead, bake them right away and you can thank us afterwards. :)

Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

zest of one large lemon

freshly squeezed juice from one large lemon

2-3 drops of lemon essential oil

1/2 cup milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners (for cupcakes). This recipe makes about 30 standard size cupcakes.

 

In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes).

Blend oil and sour cream. Add vanilla and lemon extracts, lemon zest,  lemon juice, and lemon essential oil. Mix to incorporate.

 

Add flour and milk, alternating- starting and finishing with flour.

Pour in muffin tins, filling each cupcake about 2/3 of the way. Bake 18-20 minutes or until they test done. Fill with Perfect Lemon Curd and frost with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipes below).

 

Perfect Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (it took me about 5-6 small lemons!)

1 tbsp. grated lemon zest

 

Directions:

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Mixture may look a little curdled at first but that's okay, it will smooth our later, I promise you. :) Finally, add lemon juice and zest and mix in to incorporate.

 

Using a double boiler, bring water in the bottom container to a gentle boil, and add mixture to the top container while stirring frequently in the beginning and almost constantly towards the end. Keep stirring over medium to medium-low heat until mixture thickens enough to hold marks from whisk, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Cool. Fill your cupcakes with about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of lemon curd per cupcake. This recipe is enough to fill about 30 cupcakes and can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated until ready to use (big bonus for me!).



 

Recipe for Perfect Lemon Curd adapted from: allrecipes.com

And here are my filled cupcakes, waiting to be frosted: :)

 

This is what the cupcakes looked like when cut across... And they tasted even better! :)

This was the frosting I made for these super yummy cupcakes. They were a decadent treat, perfect for spring, summer, or any time of year (especially if you a huge lemon fan like me!). :)

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 to 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon extract
2-3 drops of lemon essential oil (such as this fabulous lemon EO)
3-4 tsp heavy whipping cream (or more, if you prefer a thinner consistency)
a few drops of yellow food coloring, if desired

Directions: In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese at medium/high speed until light and fluffly, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, covering your mixer with the shield attachment or a kitchen towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen. :) Beat until well incorporated. Add lemon extract and essential oil and beat again for another minute or so. Finally, mix in whipping cream, one teaspoon at a time, until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. Frost your cupcakes and eat one (or more) right away! :) Trust me, I won't judge you. See the one cut in half in this picture? This was gone about two seconds after the photograph was taken... :))) Uh-hum....

Mediterranean Rice Pudding

So, it's winter and it's more than natural that we tend to crave hearty, homey, comforting foods. When I think of all those things, rice pudding is almost one of the first desserts that comes to mind. It always reminds me of my Grandma (who used to make this dessert for me when I was a little girl) and in this sense, it brings a sense of comfort to me in a way that few other sweet treats do. However, since my Grandma died when I was still very young and since she had very few written recipes for the delectable things she cooked and baked (she always eye-balled things when cooking :)), I didn't have her exact recipe to go by. I was determined, though, to get it down right by trial and error. It took me three or four tries and a good deal of experimentation to get to a rice pudding I could really call my own- and that reminds me of my Grandma's rice pudding too. To give homage to my Balkan/Mediterranean origins, I added ingredients that are not traditionally found in rice pudding here, but add wonderful flavor notes of citrus. The end result is a creamy, decadent dessert that is as easy to make as it is hard to resist.

          Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup half-n-half 
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• zest of half an orange
• 2 eggs, beaten  
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  
  Directions:
  Bring rice and water to a boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  
  Once rice is cooked, add milk, sugar, salt, lemon zest, and orange zest. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
  
  In a mixing bowl, combine beaten eggs and half-n-half. Add 1/2 cup of the hot rice mixture to the eggs and stir. Repeat a couple more times. This ensures that the eggs do not scramble once you add them to the hot rice.
  
  Stir in the tempered egg mixture, raisins (if using) and ground cinnamon to the saucepan with the rice. Cook 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and lemon juice.
  
  
  
  
  

  Recipe adapted from: allrecipes.com 

Lemon Sugar Cookies

I love this sugar cookie recipe because it does not require butter at room temperature- that is, no pre-planning involved. As long as you have butter in the fridge, you can whip these up in no time- just cut the cold butter in chunks and cream with the sugar! Voila! You've got yourself some pretty good sugar cookies with minimal wait time! What is also great about this recipe is that because of the cold butter, the dough is very easy to roll and cut out and the cookies hold their shape really well with baking. What more can you ask for when sugar cookies are concerned? Well, taste of course- that's why I decided to boost the flavor with some fresh lemon juice and lemon zest and I think this really sealed the deal. The frosting, of course, had to be pink... :)) Just look at these babies:

Of course, since I made them for Teacher Appreciation Week, I had to incorporate a "Thank-you" somewhere. :) Piping it on almost 4 dozen cookies was definitely a labor of love, but my kids' teachers deserve it. :)

Lemon Sugar Cookies:

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold & cut into chunks
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsps freshly squeezed lemon juice
lemon zest of one lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

Roll on a floured surface to about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. (You may want to freeze the cut out cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking- they will hold their shape better). Bake for 10 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Ice with your favorite icing. Since I am not too crazy about the taste of royal icing, I used the following recipe to which I added some lemon juice to carry out the lemon theme, but only vanilla extract would be fine too.

And here are my cookies, packaged for the teachers, along with spring flowers and some thank-you balloons too. :) 

Lemon Frosting:

• 2-2 ½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsps fresh lemon juice
• 3-4 Tbsp milk
• Coloring if desired

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and add a little more milk or powdered sugar to get the right consistency for spreading and/or piping.

Recipe for cookies adapted from: bakeat350
Recipe for frosting adapted from: melskitchencafe

7UP Cake

This is a new recipe I was very excited to make! I love any dessert with lemon flavor. The original recipe didn't have the lemon zest and the lemon glaze, but I think it is so delicious with them! Also, I decreased the sugar to 2 1/2 cups and it was definitely sweet enough. And to be on  the safe side, I did add a tsp of baking powder. The end result was an extremely moist, absolutely delicious lemon cake!


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
•  2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 5 eggs, at room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• zest of one lemon
• 1cup lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage (e.g. 7UP, Sprite, Sierra Mist, etc)

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar for 20 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Add lemon extract, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
2. In separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder. 
3. Alternate adding flour mixture and soft drink to the egg/sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Do not overbeat!
4. Pour into a well-greased and floured 12 cup bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 60 to 75 minutes. 
5. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before taking out of the pan. 
   
   (Instead of baking my cake in a bundt pan, I made 24 cupcakes and 1 regular size bread loaf pan out of this recipe- I always change things around :))
   
   
   You can also make a glaze to drizzle over the cake:
   
   1 cup powdered sugar
   2 tbsps milk or for more lemony flavor,
   2 tbsps lemon juice or 7UP
   
   
   Cake recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/seven-up-cake-ii/detail.asp
   
   
   

Mother's Day Cake

This was a lemon cake with buttercream frosting I made for Mother's Day. It had a basket weave on the side and buttercream roses on top: special, feminine and dainty- just like my Mom! It was worth the extra time I spent on it: Mom loved it!



Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

zest of one large lemon

freshly squeezed juice from one large lemon

1/2 cup milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line two 9-inch round baking pans with parchment paper.

 

In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes).

Blend oil and sour cream. Add vanilla and lemon extracts, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix to incorporate.

 

Add flour and milk, alternating- starting and finishing with flour.

Divide batter evenly between the two pans. Bake about 28-30 minutes or until they test done. 

 

 

Vanilla Buttercream FrostingIngredients:
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks butter), at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening (I know, it's not the best thing for you, but you need it to give stability to the frosting, especially if you are going to be piping a basketweave, as in this case)
1/2 tsp salt
8 cups (about 2 lbs) powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or the flavor of your choice)
5-6 tbsps (or more) heavy whipping cream, or half-and-half, or whole milk

Directions:
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and shortening on medium-high until very smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes). 

Add sifted powdered sugar gradually (covering your mixer with a towel to avoid clouds of powdered sugar all over your kitchen), and continue creaming until well blended. 

Add salt, vanilla, and  whipping cream/ half-and-half/ milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional 1-2 tbsps whipping cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is light and fluffy.                

* Note: This frosting recipe produces a lot of frosting, but if you are going to be piping a basketweave on the sides and roses on top, you will need to have enough, and a little bit leftover. My grandmother always used to say, "In order to have enough of anything, you should really have leftovers". :)