I made these muffins for my APUSH class's food Friday. Most everybody went for seconds. We were taking an essay test, so it wasn't an easy thing to go up for seconds.
Now that things are finally winding down in school. I hopefully will be able to get back to baking and cooking again. AP exams are over, we only have one lab left for chemistry, and my last calculus test for the year is tomorrow.
We're currently watching The Butler in APUSH. I saw it over winter break, and the film casts such a harsh light on racism in the United State's past. I didn't like the ending the first time I saw it. I feel like it brushes over the racism that is still present in America today.
Oh well, nothing like blueberry muffins to soften the pain of the past, I guess.
Jesse McCartney - "Beautiful Soul"
(Yes, I know, but just in case you're feeling a little nostalgic. It is Throwback Thursday, after all)
For the Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375
degrees F. Line a muffins pan with paper or foil liners, set aside.
To make the muffins: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium
heat. Keep an eye on the butter. It will melt, froth, and begin to
crackle. That’s the water cooking out of the butter. The crackling
will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly. Remove from
heat when butter solids become a medium brown color and butter smells
slightly nutty. Immediately pour hot butter into a small bowl, or the
butter will continue to cook in the hot pan. Allow to cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add browned butter and whisk to combine.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium
bowl. Add milk mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir gently
to combine. Gently but thoroughly fold in the lemon zest, poppy seeds,
and blueberries. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
To make the topping: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and rub
together with clean fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly
over the muffin batter in cups.
Bake muffins 18 to 20 minutes until golden and crisp and a skewer
inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in
the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Serve warm or at room
temperature.
Muffins will last, at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. I like them best the day they are made.
This salad was a bit of reprieve from the sugar, and the basily-lemony flavor is mouthwatering to recall!I feel like I haven't been cooking anything except baked goods and even those are few.
I've been doing college visits, prepping for the SAT, and school stuff. But at least I took the SAT yesterday so that's done!
I felt aweful for this girl. She drove to the wrong school for the test and only had twenty minutes to get to a school that's probably thirty minutes away from where we were. On top of that, she as a senior needed the score to get into some schools, so she couldn't wait for the May test. Hopefully she made it and could take the test.
Dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salad:
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small bunch asparagus, about 15 spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup frozen peas
1 avocado, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped basil
Directions:
In a small bowl or medium jar, combine
the dressing ingredients. Whisk to combine or shake with the jar lid on
tight. Set aside.
Add water, quinoa, and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a
boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and
simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from
heat and fluff with a fork.
While the quinoa is cooking, cook the asparagus. In a large
skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the asparagus and
fresh lemon juice. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peas
and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine quinoa, asparagus, peas, and avocado.
Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until well coated. Season with
salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the fresh basil and serve.
Or rather he is so excited over his new/repurposed Build-A-Bear house :D
Mmmmm... Look at that lemon curd!
Frosting!
Sean Kelly- "Could It Be Another Change?"
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
5 largge eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried coconut flakes
Curd:
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp lemon juice
5 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of salt
Frosting:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
6 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp whole milk, plus more if needed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
grated zest of 2 lemons
Directions:
Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare two 0 inch round cake pans by greasing them with cooking spray and then lining the botttoms with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time. Then add the lemon zest. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes, until fully combined.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, slat, and baking soda, In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream and the vanilla.
With the mixer running on low speed, mix in a third of the flour mixture and half of the sour cream mixture and half of the sour cream mixture. Scrape down the bowl. Add another third of the flour mixture and all the remaining flour mixture until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pans and bake for 15 more minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 20 minutes. Then turn each cake out onto a clean plate, remove the parchment paper, and then turn it back over onto a wire rack. et the cakes cool completely.
To assemble, place a cake layer on a serving plate, and trim the top with a long serrated knife to make a level surface. Spread a thin layer of the lemon buttercream over the top. Using a pastry bag, pipe a ring of butter cream around the edge of the cake. THis makes a sort of bowl for the lemon curd so that it will not spill out. Fill the bowl with 1 cup of the lemon curd. Place the second cake layer on top, being careful not to disturb the lemon curd. Spread the remaining buttercream over the entire cake. Press the coconut flakes into the butter cream on the sides of the cake.
Curd:
In a large metal bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. In a medium saucepan, bring about 2 inches of water to a boil. Place the metal bowl on top of the saucepan, and whisk the egg mixture constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not let the mixture come to a boil. Remove the bowl from the heat. Stir in the butter and salt until the butter melts completely. Strain the curd through a fine-mesh strainer into a heat-resistant bowl. Press the plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Chill the curd in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, or until it has set. It can be stored in the fridge for about 5 days.
Frosting:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the mixer to low and add the milk, vanilla, salt , and lemon zest. Scrape down the bowl and the paddle. Mix on low for 2 minutes, until the buttercream is thoroughly combined. If the buttercream is too stiff to spread, add an additional 1 to2 teaspoons milk until you reach the desired consistency. Extra buttercream can be stored in an airtight container, with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface of the buttercream, for up to 5 days in the fridge.
Now, normally I see a recipe with raspberries that's mouthwatering and I reluctantly move on from it since, if we were to get fresh raspberries, I'd feel wasteful to use them in cooking instead of enjoying them for what they are.
We used to have a raspberry patch in the backyard, with blackberry plants mixed throughout, so raspberries have always seemed much more valuable to me than other fruits.
Why is it that in flavored candy, raspberry is never as sweet as strawberry? When in reality, strawberries are half as sweet as raspberries. I just don't get it.
Anyway, you have to love sales. My mom bought a ridiculous amount of raspberries (more than we could eat), so I made perfectly shaped lemon bars from The Spiffy Cookie.
"The Great Escape" Boys Like Girls
Ingredients
For the base:
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp lemon zest
Pinch of salt
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup flour
For the filling:
1 cup raspberries
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/3 cup flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease with butter or cooking spray.
For the base, pulse together the sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a
food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it is evenly distributed
throughout the dough. Add in the flour and pulse until just combined and
crumbly. Press into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until
starting to brown.
Let cool while you make the filling.
In the same food processor, puree the raspberries. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl to get rid of the seeds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice.
Add in 3 tbsp of the raspberry puree. Stir in the flour until just
combined. Pour the filling on top of the crust and bake until just set,
about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.
So here you have July blueberry lemon bars. I (well, my mom) found this recipe in the Costco magazine.
"Build Me Up Buttercup" preformed by the Temptations
Ingredients:
Base:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 TB confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup butter
Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 TB lemon zest
3 large effs
1 TB flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup blueberries
Directions:
Grease 9 by 9 inch microwaveable pan.
To make the base: Mix the flour, confectioner's sugar and lemon zest. Melt the butter and combine with flour mixture. The mixture will be crumbly. Pat it into the greased pan. Microwave for 3 minutes at power level 8 until the base is firm (depending on the strength of iyr microwave, it may need an additional minute).
To make filling: Combine the sugar, lemon zest, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl. Beat for 2 minutes. Pour over base. Return pan to microwave and cook at power level 8 for 3 minutes until the filling is set but has a slight wiggle (like prepared Jell-O). Depending on the strength of your microwave, it may need another minute. Cool completely. Refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or over night.
But then again, I am a lemon bar person... it's my favorite dessert, so I may be a little biased.
Nah, it's the best.
Corinne Bailey Rae- Put Your Records On
Perfect for lemon bar making (and eating).
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2
cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4
cup powdered sugar
1
cup granulated sugar
2
teaspoons grated lemon peel, if desired
2
tablespoons lemon juice
1/2
teaspoon baking powder
1/4
teaspoon salt
2
eggs
Powdered sugar
Directions:
Heat oven to 350ºF.
Mix flour, butter and powdered sugar. Press in ungreased square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches, building up 1/2-inch edges.
Bake crust 20 minutes.
Beat granulated sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, baking powder, salt and eggs with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over hot crust.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched lightly in center. Cool; dust with powdered sugar. Cut into about 1 1/2-inch squares.
These have reawakened the cupcake lover in me. They're just too good!
"I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and the Shondells
Prepare the cupcakes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center. In
a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In
the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the
butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy,
2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
addition. Add the limoncello and beat an additional minute. On low
speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively, beginning and
ending with the flour mixture. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix on
low speed just until incorporated.
Divide the batter between 12 muffin
tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle
comes out clean. Let cool completely.
Prepare the lemon curd.
In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the lemon zest, juice and
sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk
together the egg and egg yolk. Whisk the lemon mixture into the eggs to
temper them. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and place over
medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat, and let cool completely.
Prepare the cream cheese limoncello frosting.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy,
about 2-3 minutes. Add the limoncello and beat for an additional
minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered
sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth.
Assemble the cupcakes.
Cut a hole into each cupcake with the large end of a melon baller or
the back end of a large pastry tip. Fill each cavity with the lemon
curd. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip (I used Wilton 1M) with the
cream cheese limoncello frosting and pipe onto each cupcake. Decorate
with lemon and berries, if desired.
This is the amazing Italian limecello I got to use!
(Only for the frosting though... what!? Impatient me? :)
For the cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 ounces (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons limoncello
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup lemon juice
Zest of one lemon For the lemon curd:
Zest of 2 lemons
½ cup lemon juice
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk For the cream cheese limoncello frosting:
2 ounces (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon limoncello
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Directions:
1. Prepare the cupcakes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center. In
a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In
the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the
butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy,
2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
addition. Add the limoncello and beat an additional minute. On low
speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively, beginning and
ending with the flour mixture. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix on
low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter between 12 muffin
tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle
comes out clean. Let cool completely.
2. Prepare the lemon curd.
In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the lemon zest, juice and
sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk
together the egg and egg yolk. Whisk the lemon mixture into the eggs to
temper them. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and place over
medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat, and let cool completely.
3. Prepare the cream cheese limoncello frosting.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy,
about 2-3 minutes. Add the limoncello and beat for an additional
minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered
sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth.
4. Assemble the cupcakes.
Cut a hole into each cupcake with the large end of a melon baller or
the back end of a large pastry tip. Fill each cavity with the lemon
curd. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip (I used Wilton 1M) with the
cream cheese limoncello frosting and pipe onto each cupcake. Decorate
with lemon and berries, if desired.
