Carrabba's-inspired Lemon Bread Pudding

You'll have to excuse me. I literally just made love to this bread pudding........ twice. I couldn't help myself. I lost all control after the last bite of my first helping. I tricked myself into thinking the second plate would be for photographing purposes only. No, no, no, vice grips from hell couldn't pry the fork out of my fingers. You think I'm being a little too dramatic? You'll never know until you make this bread pudding for yourself. I was inspired by my favorite restaurant dessert, the Limoncello bread pudding at Carrabba's. I was afraid I'd never be able to come close to it when making it at home. That is until I found a recipe online for Carrabba's bread pudding! First, my head exploded. Then I came back to reality and got down to business. Heavy cream: check! Vanilla sugar: check! 7 eggs: check! Let's get it on!

Work it, baby, YEAH!

I played around with this recipe a bit. I replaced the 1/4 cup limoncello in the custard with more milk. I used vanilla sugar because the bread pudding at Carrabba's has vanilla bean flecks in it. To give it a good lemony flavor I added the zest of two small lemons. And I omitted the lemon syrup because melted ice cream is all the sauce I need! ;D Btw, next time I make this (there will be many more "next times") I'm gonna try it in a water bath. I think that might help prevent the egg custard from over-baking on the sides.

Limoncello Bread Pudding (SOURCE: Carrabba's Italian Grill)
Serves 4 (Ha! You could easily serve 8!)

3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Limoncello (I replaced this with more milk)
7 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
(I added the zest of 2 small lemons)
2 quarts stale bread (cut into cubes) (I used Challah)

1. In a mixing bowl add the cream, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and the Limoncello. Whisk together and pour over bread in a 9x9x2" or a 2-quart pan and let sit for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover the pudding with foil. Bake pudding in a conventional oven for 40-50 minutes or until pudding is set.

Limoncello Simple Syrup (I omitted this)
1/4 cup Limoncello
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. Place Limoncello and sugar in a small sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil stirring well to dissolve all the sugar.

To Serve
The bread pudding can be served warm or cold. Scoop Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on top of the bread pudding. Drizzle Limoncello syrup over ice cream and bread pudding. Place mint sprig on top of the ice cream.

Lemon-Poppyseed Cake

Let me refer back to my past Twitter "tweets" and show you what Josh said when he tasted this cake...

josh just called me a "f#$%ing craftsman" and demanded that i make him a mattress out of lemon poppyseed pound cake!! ;D ;D
6:17 PM Jan 5th from txt

To be politically correct, I guess I'd be a craftswoman. Either way, this cake was BANGIN!!!! It was dense, tender, and moist. The cake itself had only a hint of lemon flavor, but the crust (which was soaked in a lemon sugar wash) packed a major pucker of sour lemon flavor! The sugar wash went on the outside while the cake was still warm, but it didn't crust over like the book led me to believe it would. That didn't matter, because it was sooo very delicious, and it kept the cake moist for quite a few days! Yeah, it was a HUGE cake, so it did last for a while in our house. The poppyseeds in the cake gave a unique crunch and a slight nutty flavor. Everyone loved it, and I'd definitely make it again!
Lemon-Poppyseed Cake (from "Baking by Flavor" by Lisa Yockelson)
Makes one 10-inch tube cake; about 20 slices

Lemon Peel Infusion (recipe follows)
Lemon-Poppyseed Sour Cream Cake Batter
3 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour (I always use unbleached)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup thick, cultured sour cream
3 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup poppyseeds (I only used 1/4 cup)
Lemon Sugar Wash (recipe follows)

Mix the ingredients for the Lemon Peel Infusion; set aside for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the inside of a 10-inch tube pan; set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream the butter in the large bowl of a standing electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes. Add the granulated sugar in three additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 45 seconds after each addition. Blend in the lemon infusion. On low speed, alternately added the sifted ingredients in three additions with the sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured. The batter will be creamy and moderately thick. Blend in the milk. Stir in the poppyseeds. Spoon the batter into the prepared tube pan. Shake the pan gently from side to side, once or twice, to level the top.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until risen, set, and a wooden pick inserted in the cake withdraws clean (mine was done after 1 hour and 10 mins). The baked cake will pull away slightly from the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake out and turn it right-side up onto the cooling rack. Place a sheet of wax paper underneath to catch any drips of sugar wash.
Using a soft, 1-inch pastry brush, apply the wash over the top and sides of the cake. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
Store in an airtight cake keeper for up to 5 days.

Lemon Peel Infusion
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
2 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure lemon extract.

Combine ingredients in a small non-reactive ramekin. Let the infusion stand for 15 minutes before using.

Lemon Sugar Wash
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar

In a small nonreactive bowl, combine the lemon juice and sugar. Stir well. Let stand 10 minutes. Using the wash now (while the cake is hot out of the oven) will give the surface of a baked pound cake a crackly, sugary veneer. (It just made mine look wet, but it kept it very moist!)

The Cake Slice presents: Marbled Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake

Sorry I'm late! This new job is keeping me so busy, but I love it so I'm not complaining! I was supposed to post this entry yesterday with all of the other Cake Slicers, but as soon as I got home from work my mom swooped me up and took me to the mall to go cell phone shopping. I made this cake waayyy back at the beginning of the month. It was delicious, and the entire thing got eaten during wing night! That rarely happens! I'm gonna chalk it up to the fact that I only made half the recipe. I baked it in a 13X9 pan and then cut it into three "layers" to make a rectangular cake. I had a hard time marbling my batter, and when the cake was sliced you couldn't really tell it was marbled. But it was still yummy! The homemade blueberry filling was the best part! I wasn't a huge fan of the whole-egg buttercream. I would've MUCH rather had Swiss meringue buttercream, and Josh agreed with that! Other than that little tidbit, the cake was awesome! Another great choice for The Cake Slice!

See? The marbling looks pretty from the top... This is how I cut it to make a rectangle-shaped cake. I thought I was going to have problems with my buttercream. After whipping the eggs with the sugar syrup, I got SOUP! But it all worked out in the end... And I'm pretty darn proud of the way I decorated the top! ;D ...the marbling is indistinguishable, but it's still pretty!

Marbled Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake (from Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes)
Makes one 8-inch triple-layer cake

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¼ cups milk
Fresh blueberries, for decoration
Lemon blueberry preserves (below)
Lemon buttercream frosting (below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper. In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg whites 2 or 3 at a time, beating well between additions and stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk gently to blend. In 2 or 3 alternating additions, beat the dry ingredients and milk into the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute to smooth out any lumps and aerate the batter. Scoop 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl. Divide the remaining equally among the 3 prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula. This gives you a smooth surface to work with. Add 2½ tbsp of the lemon blueberry preserves to the reserved batter and blend well. Drizzle heaping teaspoons of this blueberry mixture over the batter in the pans. Use a skewer to swirl the blueberry mixture in short strokes to drag it down through the lemon batter without mixing it in. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer stuck in the centre comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Lat the layers cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to cool completely.

Lemon Blueberry Preserves
3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Puree the blueberries with any juices that have exuded in a blender. Pass the puree
through a coarse strainer to remove the skins. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, zest and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat, stirring often for 20 minutes, or until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup. To check the proper thickness place a small amount of a saucer and put in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through it. If a clear path is made through the preserve then it is ready. Let the preserves cool before using. (Can be made up to 5 days in advance).

Lemon Buttercream Frosting
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat. In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beast the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; be careful to avoid hitting the beaters or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium,-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15-20 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating well between additions. As you’re adding the last few tablespoons of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter. Beat in the lemon juice, and the frosting is ready to use.

To Assemble
To assemble the cake, place a layer, flat side up, on a cake stand. Spread half of the lemon blueberry preserves over the top. Place a second layer on top of the first and spread the remaining preserves over it. Finally place the third layer on top and frost the top and sides with the lemon buttercream. Decorate with fresh blueberries and serve.

Cookie Carnival: Lemon Ricotta Cookies

This is my first post for the Cookie Carnival, hosted every month by Kate over at The Clean Plate Club. This month we were allowed to vote for which cookies we wanted to make. The winning recipe was Lemon Ricotta Cookies. I didn't vote for these, but when I found out they were the winner I knew Josh would be excited. He's crazy about lemon desserts. This particular recipe comes from FoodNetwork.com. Reading the reviews, I noticed everyone said these were a cake-like cookie. I'm not a fan of cake-like cookies........ UNLESS!! Unless they're smashed together with fluffy, creamy frosting in the middle... You see where I'm going with this?? Whoopie pies, people, WHOOPIE PIES!!?! My dad is crazy about whoopie pies. He's always asking me to make them. So this week for wing night, I made a dessert that satisfies the two most important men in my life!
These lemon ricotta cookies whoopie pies are fabulous! The cookie is definitely cake-like. It's moist and the lemon flavor is excellent. The frosting in the middle is a cooked flour frosting (my 2nd favorite frosting after SMBC). It's creamy and fluffy and lemony and PERFECT! These whoopie pies will satisfy any lemon lover!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies w/ Lemon Glaze (I omitted the glaze and sandwiched the cookies with Cooked Lemon Frosting, recipe below)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.


Cooked Lemon Frosting
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, soft but cool
Zest of 1 large lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Whisk together sugar, flour, milk, and cream in a saucepan. Boil over medium heat until mixture becomes extremely thick like glue, about 15-20 minutes. Whisk frequently to prevent burning.

When mixture has thickened, pour it into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium-high speed until mixture cools to room temperature, about 15 minutes (test it by touching it with the back of your hand or wrist). Add the soft but cool butter a few tablespoons at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase speed to high. The frosting will look too soft at first, but it will thicken after about 3-5 minutes on high speed. Stir in lemon zest and lemon juice.

Product Review: Miss Muffet's Lemon Dream Cupcake Mix

Recently I was contacted by Carrie from Miss Muffet's about reviewing some of her bakery mixes. Over the weekend I made the Lemon Dream Cupcakes for my family for Easter. It makes 12 cupcakes, and the retail value is $8.25. Everyone loved them! We all agreed that the cupcakes were SUPER moist and slightly lemony. Some thought the frosting was "weird" but good. It's kinda like a whipped topping (kinda like Dream Whip), not really the texture or sweetness you think of when you think frosting. They were supposed to be filled with the mixture, but I was short on time, so I just piled all of it ontop of the cupcakes.

If you're interested in ordering some of Miss Muffet's bakery mixes, visit missmuffets.com!

The Cake Slice presents: Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

I joined a group called The Cake Slice this month! It's a neat little group that bakes one recipe a month from a specific book. This year, we're baking our way through Sky High Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne. My first cake with the group is the Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake. I decorated mine with little pastel candies as a last resort because I didn't have anything yellow. It ended up looking like a perfect Easter cake! And it was DELICIOUS! The chiffon cake was sooo soft, and the tart lemon filling was just right! I usually don't like whipped cream as frosting, but this was pretty darn good! At first I was afraid about the chiffon part. When I attempted chiffon cupcakes à la Alton Brown, I got less than desirable results. However, these cake layers came out perfectly! I do think they could've used a little help flavorwise. Just a touch of vanilla would've been perfect. But my opinion on lemon desserts is often skewed, as they are not my favorite. Josh is the go-to man when I want an opinion regarding all things lemon. He's usually not a dessert guy, but he will totally scarf down anything lemon flavored. I'm pretty sure he was responsible for at least HALF of the cake getting eaten. One night I sent him home with THREE slices! I think it got his stamp of approval. ;D

Oh yeah... Did I mention... THERE'S A VIDEO!!?? Every time I post a video, I always get comments saying "You should make more videos!" So I made one of the cake making/baking process. Sorry, no video documentation of assembling the cake. My brother came home, and I feel like a total nerd recording myself while other people are around!

Ain't it pretty?? A layer cake I'm actually proud of! I guess the cake was too wide for the lid... :( You could imagine how the cake looked after this lide was remove and replaced a few more times!
The first slice!!
Yum!
After Josh got a hold of it! :)

Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake (from Sky High Iresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Makes a 9-inch 3-layer cake

For the cake:
8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
[*1 cup cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup AP flour plus 2 tablespoons corn starch]
[**equal amount either almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil] (I used Canola)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.

In a med-large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake to in order to un-mold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.

To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with a heaping 1/4 cup of lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting.

Rich Lemon Curd
Makes 1 cup

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp.

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. make sure not to boil the mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

Lemon Cream Frosting
Makes 3 1/4 cups

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoon lemon curd

Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.

Josh's Perfect Party Cake!

Saturday was Josh's 21st birthday. Yeah yeah, I'm a cradle robber! He's about 1 1/2 years younger than me. But you wouldn't know it by looking at us! Most people say he looks 5 years older than me easily. That could be because I look 16. Or it could be because of his massively cool beard. Haha ANYWAY! He asked me to make him a lemon raspberry cake. Soooo of course I had to return to Dorie's Perfect Party Cake. The first time I made this cake was for a Daring Bakers challenge. I had to make it again because it's fabulous! I added a secret ingredient to make it more moist (scroll down to the recipe if you wanna know!). Dorie's Swiss meringue buttercream was yummy, despite my mistake of using salted butter... OOPS! However, next time I'll use my own recipe for SMBC because mine has less butter. I used Braswell's seedless black raspberry preserves for the filling. It's the most delicious preserve I've ever tasted. You can find it almost all the time at TJ Maxx! Overall this cake is a 10 out of 10!

Ooh yeah, we sliced it before we sang. We were excited to eat it! :D

FIRST BITE!!Oh oh me next!!

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours.

Perfect Party Cake
For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I used milk)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I zested a whole lemon)
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
4 tablespoons buttermilk powder (My secret ingredient!)

For the Buttercream (This is just enough to thinly frost the cake, but if you want to enough to play around with, go ahead and times the recipe by 1.5)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I recommend reducing this to 2 sticks [1 stick for every 2 whites is my general rule])
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) (I used 2 teaspoons lemon extract)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I omitted this)

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable (I used slightly less [just enough to thinly coat each cake layer] and it was just the right amount of flavor)
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut (I omitted this; Josh isn't a huge coconut fan)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans (I used 8x2) and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt (and buttermilk powder, if using). Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated (This sounds opposite of what most cake recipes tell you, but DO IT!). Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes (160F on a candy thermometer). The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream (unless you whisked the eff out of it, it won't look like marshmallow cream YET!). Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with 1/3 of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about 1/4 of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top (This cake is super crumbly, so I recommend doing a thin crumb coat first). Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Lemon Angelfood Cloudcakes... I mean Cupcakes!

Tuesday, I was supposed to make the cupcakes that won the poll last week (which has been extended so keep voting!). However, I was having an insane craving for that S.A.D. Key Lime Pie I made for Fathers Day.... yeah... remember that? Oh it was so good! So I made the pie, and then I had 5 egg whites just hanging out in the fridge wondering what they would become. I remembered the bag of lemons I just bought. So I put 2 and 2 together and got the idea for Lemon Angelfood Cupcakes! I found a recipe in Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans (which is quickly becoming the favorite of all my cupcake books). If you are a faithful reader, and even if you aren't and you just have a crazy good memory, you will know that I am usually not fond of lemon desserts. Well, people... TIMES HAVE CHANGED! These cupcakes remind me of marshmallows, if marshmallows could be lemony cake! They are so soft and sweet and good! The glaze is a little sour for my taste, so next time I'd go half lemon juice and half water. Other than that, these are perfect!


MY NOTES: Mine were done at 25 minutes, so check them early. Next time I'd make the glaze with 2 teaspoons water and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. It was a bit sour.

Lemon Angelfood Cupcakes
MAKES 9-10 LARGE CUPCAKES

CUPCAKES
1/2 cup cake flour
3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup egg whites (about 5 large)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I used the zest of 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar (I only used 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons plus about 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (I used the juice of half a lemon)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (My own addition)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Have ready a muffin pan with 12 muffin cups. Put paper liners in 2 or 3 of the cups to protect the pan.
2. Sift the flour and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves. Beat on high speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth and the beaters form lines in the mixture; if you stop the mixer and lift up the beaters, the whites should cling to the beaters. Slowly beat in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, then beat for 1 minute. Mix in the lemon zest, vanilla, and almond extract. Beating on low speed, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the flour mixture over the egg white mixture at a time, beating after each addition to incorporate it.
3. Using about 1/2 cup for each, spoon the batter into the unlined muffin cups. The batter may even be above the tops of the cups, but this stiff batter will not spill over the sides. Do not smooth the tops-let the batter remain in fluffy mounds (I did smooth mine because I was afraid the peaks would burn). Bake for about 35 minutes (Mine were done at 25 minutes!! And I was using an oven thermometer!), until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. The cupcakes will rise quite a bit (Actually they didn’t rise as much as the book made it seem).
4. Arrange 2 cans on a wire rack and invert the pan over the cans so the ends of the pan rest on the cans. This lets air circulate while the cupcakes cool upside down. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Use a small knife to loosen the edges of the cupcakes from the pan. Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan, using the knife to help release them if necessary, and set them right side up on the rack.
5. In a small bowl, stir the powdered sugar and melted butter with enough lemon juice, beginning with 2 tablespoons, to make a smooth, pourable glaze. Use a small spoon to drizzle the glaze over the top of each cupcake. The cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5 (as moist as angelfood could be?)
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 4 (a bit too sour)

Lemon and Black Raspberry Cupcakes

Apologies are in order for this week's cupcake poll mixup. I looked at the poll last night and saw that Lemon Raspberry was beating Lemon Butterflies by a few points, so I assumed that wouldn't change much overnight... Well we all know what happens when we assume! I made Lemon Rasperry cupcakes this morning, and THEN logged into blogger to find out I MADE THE WRONG CUPCAKES! Lemon Butterflies had pulled ahead by 2 votes! Oops... No worries though. You can use the same cake and frosting recipes to make the Butterflies. I'll even add the instructions at the bottom :) Also, in the poll entry I said all the recipes were going to be from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, but I got this lemon cupcake recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella. It's delicious, but you can be mad if you want.
EDIT: I mentioned in the last post that I wasn't a big fan of citrus desserts. Even though these cupcakes did taste good, I still don't prefer the taste of lemon in sweets.

ingredients! I had enough batter for 30 cupcakes, so I had to use my old rusty 6-cup muffin pan.
Lemon cupcakes cooling on the back porch...Cut a cone out of each cupcake, spoon 1 tsp black raspberry perserves, and replace the top.Mmmm... these are so yummy!

MY NOTES: I added 1 tsp vanilla extract to the cupcake batter. I got 30 cupcakes.

Lemon Cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or lemon concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (my own addition)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time to creamed mixture, beating 1 minute after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix until completely integrated. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix the batter for 30 seconds.
5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Whipped Lemon Buttercream (my own recipe)
Makes 2-3 cups
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup heavy cream

Cream the butter and confectioners' sugar in an electric mixer on low to medium speed until fluffy. With the mixer on low, add lemon juice and zest, then slowly add the cream. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

WANNA MAKE BUTTERFLIES?
Use a sharp knife to slice the top (about 1/4-inch thick slice) off each cupcake. Dust the top with powdered sugar and cut in half. Put frosting on the cupcakes, and press the tops into the frosting (powdered sugar side up), tilted slightly so they look like butterfly wings.

photo from flickr user indigomuse

Cupcake Poll #13 - When Life Hands You Lemons!

There are a few lemons just hanging out in my fridge. For the past week I've been slicing them up and squeezing them in my water and tea. But I believe these lemons have a higher purpose. I don't usually like citrus flavored desserts, but I'm hoping to change my own mind! These cupcakes will be made Sunday Feb. 17 for a Daytona 500 party my parents are going to. All the recipes are from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans (unless you want to suggest something better)!

This week's poll:

• Lemon Meringue Cupcakes:
  "Hot-milk cake" is the base for this cupcake with lemon filling and a billowy toasted meringue topping!
  
• Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes:
  A lemon angelfood cupcake smothered with black raspberry glaze!
  
• Lemon Butterfly Cupcakes:
  Also called a "fairy cake," a lemon cupcake topped with lemony whipped cream and cake wings!