she's got a big mouth

I usually end up making cupcakes at the most inopportune time.  Right now, I'm supposed to be cramming for my CPA exam on Wednesday.  Instead I made lemon buttermilk cupcakes.  :shrug:  I know what I want my true calling in life to be.  =)

Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes

frosted cupcakes

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
2 ¾ cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (1/2 pound or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon extract
the zest of 1 lemon (but to be honest, I could have used more since I wanted a more lemony punch)
20-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Combine and sift the flour, salt, and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with a pretty hefty handmixer on medium speed until the mixture is light, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extract. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate one egg before adding another.

Bring your mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture.  When you no longer see any dry patches, add half of your buttermilk to the mixture.  Mix, add another third of dry mixture, mix, add the rest of the buttermilk, and finally end with your flour mixture.  You get it.  Cupcake recipes always call for dry, wet, dry, wet, dry.  

Fill your muffin liners about 3/4 of the way.  I ALWAYS mess this part up.  ALWAYS.  Less is more people!!!!!!  There is no need to fill these babies to the brim.  Bake for about 18-20 minutes depending on your oven, altitude, etc.  I pretty much eyeballed it at 18ish minutes when the tops were getting golden.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS
1 8oz package of cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 C butter (room temperature) -- this is a half a stick of butter
4 C powdered sugar (I recommend that you sift it.)
1 teaspoon lemon extract -- and I added a good squeeze of lemon juice from my zested lemon

Mix the cream cheese and butter.  Add the powdered sugar little at a time and lemon extract/juice.  Voila!  Frost to your heart's content.  I used a Wilton 5m because I think it looks the prettiest.

frosted yumminess

Mmmmm decadent.

cupcakes

1 comment

I made that salmon again.  This time it looked a little less anemic. 

Again, marinade was grey poupon, garlic, soy sauce and olive oil.

lunch

Such simple ingredients that pack a TON of flavor.

2 weeks ago, I made the most outstanding strawberry lemon cupcakes for work.  This week, I'm taking a stab at blueberry pie.

Of course, I ran to Smitten Kitchen for her amazing recipe for flaky pie dough.  Seriously, my pastry blender is one of the best investments I've ever made. 

pastry blender and blueberries

I was also inspired by TENDER CRUMB's rendition of star crust!!  Star crust automatically sounds challenging, but I figured eh, why not?!

blueberry pie

Don't forget, always put those pies on the bottom shelf!!  Helps with any soggy crust issues.

finished blueberry pie

Mmmmm... so much blueberry juice!!!  I definitely could do without all that excess juice because I'm a perfectionist neat freak, but it still looks like a success!!!

Ugh... you don't even want to know what I've been eating recently.  I literally have no time to cook.  It makes me so sad.  The homemade substitutes leave much to be desired.

I managed to drag myself to Whole Foods and grab some nice chicken breasts.  I halved them, rubbed them down with butter, salted and peppered them, threw thyme in between the halves, and threw on some paprika, garlic powder, and dry minced onions.  I cooked at 425 for 25 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked depending on the size of your chicken). 

On the same baking pan, I threw some quartered red potatoes dressed with prepared pesto, extra olive oil, and salt.  

The end result?

chicken, it's what's for dinner

Delicious.  I can't wait to make chicken salad with the leftovers. Mmmm... talk about flavorful!

Nut Cups

I can't tell you how happy I am right now. Do you know how long it took me to find these little buggers?! TOO LONG! They're called "nut cups" Awkward, right? Well, for the past month I've been scouring the internet at baking supplier websites, amazon, weird little skuzzy websites, etc. for what I thought were "cupcake liners." Needless to say, I was surprised to see them called "nut cups." Still very awkward.

Stuffed Mushrooms

stuffed mushrooms

Twinnie and I stuffed these bad boys after we had broccoli and watercress soup for breakfast, mmmm.  Merry Christmas everyone!  Happy cooking!

Endive with Gorgonzola, Pear, and Walnuts
(from Williams Sonoma I think?)

the spread

Ingredients:
1/3 cup walnuts
Approx. 30 Belgian endive leaves
1 Bosc pear
5 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, at room temperature

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Place the walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake, stirring once or twice, until fragrant and lightly toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour the walnuts onto a plate and let cool, then chop coarsely.

Separate the leaves of the endives. Choose about 40 of the pale ivory to light green inner leaves (reserve the others for another use).

Halve and core the pears, then finely chop. Spread a teaspoonful of the cheese on the base of each endive leaf. Top with pear and a sprinkle of nuts. Serve immediately.

nom nom nom

Hope everyone has a great day filled with family, friends, and food.