Lemon Cupcakes

After the delicious lemon cookies that I baked last week, I stil had some leftover lemons and lemon drops. I decided that my contribution to the Easter dessert table would be lemon cupcakes. A quick online search for lemon cupcakes turned up this Lemon Drop Cupcake recipe on the Better Homes and Gardens website. With the frosting colored a light Springy yellow and topped with a Peep, these were a festive addition to the buffet. They were pretty enough to serve as a center-piece!

Before I began mixing up the little lemon cakes, some prep work was in order. First, the butter and the eggs should be set out 30 minutes prior to making the batter to allow them to come to room temperature.

Also I grated the peel off of a lemon using my wonderful new Pampered Chef microplane grater.

Then using my new super sharp utility knife, I cut the lemon in half. This knife is crazy sharp, it just glides through fruits and vegetables.

Finally, I have a juicer! The Pampered Chef Juicer is dishwasher safe and a durable reamer strains juices for less pulp. The clear 8-oz. base has standard and metric measures, a non-skid ring, and an easy pour spout. I realize that I am shamelessly promoting my PC products in this post, but I really do love my new juicer. : )

Finally, I "set up shop" next to my mixer. I had everything at the ready, the room temperature eggs and butter, the combined dry ingredients, the lemon juice mixed with milk, the lemon zest, and the sugar.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds, then add in sugar and lemon peel. Beat again until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition.

Next, add the dry ingredients....

alternately with the lemon juice/milk mixture. Beat until just combined after each addition. You really want to beat this as little as possible. Over-mixing after the flour is added strenghthens the gluten bonds in the flour and will toughen the cupcakes. We're going for a light, tender product here, so less is more in the mixing department.

The original recipe called for limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur) or suggested substituting for the limoncello with more milk. I didn't have any limoncello, but I didn't want to skimp on the lemon flavor either, so I added fresh lemon juice to the milk. The addition of lemon juice will make the milk thicken and curdle. That's okay. (I often substitute for buttermilk in recipes by adding lemon juice to regular milk.)

If you can't find limoncello at your local store, you can always make your own! Check out THIS recipe for homemade limoncello at La Buona Cucina.

Scoop the batter into paper lined muffin cups until each is 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes until the cupcakes spring back when touched. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

As you can see in this picture, my cupcakes sunk down a bit in the center rather than puffing up on top. Fine by me, because this resulted in a nice little well in the center of each to hold more frosting!

I mixed up a batch of lemon frosting (recipe below) and piped it onto the cupcake with my big decorating tip. I sprinkled some of the cupcakes with crushed lemon drops and some with candy sprinkles. I really liked the idea of the crushed lemon drops to add a nice crunchy lemon punch. If you're serving them immediately, then topping with lemon drops would be alright. But as they sit, the lemon drops dissolve into the frosting. I made these the night before and by the next day, the crushed lemon drops were non-existent. Next time, I think I will stick with candy sprinkles, fresh lemon zest, or even candied lemon slices for a garnish.

I placed a Peep atop each creamy, lemon frosting nest. Mmmm.

Lemon Drop Cupcakes from Better Homes and Gardens
Makes: 20 ( 2-1/2-inch) cupcakes
Prep: 40 minutes
Bake: 18 minutes
Cool: 45 minutes
Stand: 30 minutes

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur) or milk (I subbed with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of milk)
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel
1 recipe Lemon Frosting
1/2 cup lemon drop candies, finely crushed, or Glazed Lemon Slices
Directions
1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twenty 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup combine milk and limoncello; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and lemon peel; beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups.

4. Bake about 18 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

5. Up to 1 hour before serving, generously spread or pipe Lemon Frosting on each cupcake. Place crushed candies on a plate. Roll the edges of the cupcakes in crushed candies to coat. Or top cupcakes with a Glazed Lemon Slice. Makes 20 (2-1/2 inch) cupcakes.

Lemon Frosting: Allow 1/3 cup butter to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a large mixing bowl beat butter, 1/3 cup shortening, and 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Slowly add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating well. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Gradually beat in 2 cups additional powdered sugar. Beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until frosting reaches a spreading consistency. Makes about 2-1/3 cups frosting.

Glazed Lemon Slices: Slice 2 small lemons into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Remove seeds. Roll slices in sugar to coat well. Coat a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Arrange lemon slices in a single layer in skillet. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until sugar dissolves and lemon slices appear glazed (do not let brown). Transfer to a piece of foil; cool completely. Roll cooled slices in sugar again before using.

Make-Ahead Directions: Store unfrosted cupcakes in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or store unfrosted cupcakes in a single layer in an airtight freezer container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw cupcakes at room temperature before frosting.

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 20 ( 2-1/2-inch) cupcakesCalories350, Total Fat (g)14, Saturated Fat (g)7, Monounsaturated Fat (g)4, Polyunsaturated Fat (g)1, Cholesterol (mg)59, Sodium (mg)150, Carbohydrate (g)53, Total Sugar (g)42, Protein (g)2, Vitamin C (DV%)2, Calcium (DV%)4, Iron (DV%)4, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Crock Pot Irish Stew and Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This savory, slow-cooked traditional Irish stew accompanied by a crusty Irish soda bread makes for a delicious way to observe the feast day honoring the life of Saint Patrick.

While there are countless recipes for Irish Stew, many of them resembled my regular beef stew recipe: meat, carrots, potatoes, broth, spices. For this St. Patty's day I decided to go for more traditional Irish "peasant" feel and use lamb. I once read that back in the days of St. Patrick that only the rich could afford to raise/purchase beef.

We raised sheep on our farm when I was growing up, and it's fair to say that I ate enough lamb to counter any cravings that I would have later in life. Still, I've seen so many great lamb recipes out there lately that I decided to re-visit lamb for this stew. I ordered a lamb shoulder roast from the butcher at my local supermarket and picked it up a couple of days later. The package said that the lamb was "free range".

Well, well, well. Now we've struck a nerve in my little Irish temper. Here's the deal: I've never seen a lamb that wasn't free range. They don't fare well on feed lots. From americanlamb.com: "American Lambs are raised on natural grasses in lush pastures across the country and are free of artificial growth hormones. Most lamb produced east of the Mississippi River is not grain fed, because producers have access to high-quality natural resources. Some western American Lambs are big enough right off the range, but most lamb produced west of the Mississippi River is finished on a high quality diet of corn and alfalfa. The grain finishing creates a consistent and delicious flavor that American consumers prefer."

I suspect that labelling lamb as "free range" is much like labelling chicken as "hormone free" to give the product a marketing edge. What am I talking about? Well, we ALL eat hormone free chicken here in the U.S. Did you know that USDA regulations prohibit poultry growers from giving hormones and steroids to their birds, so all chicken is hormone-free?

So yeah, when you read labels boasting "hormone free" or "steroid free" there IS truth in the advertising...but only because they are just following the law, not because they are doing anything that sets them apart from other growers.

Okay, sorry for the mini-rant. I should clarify before I continue, I don't fault anyone for trying to better market their product to increase sales. More power to them! I just wanted ya'll to know. : ) Sometimes I start typing about things like stew and bread and my fingers take over and do a little free association de-bunking. : )

So back to this fancy free-range lamb. All $14 worth. So much for "peasant" pricing...

I cut the roast into pieces and sprinkled with a little sea salt to begin.

I heated a little oil in my skillet to brown the lamb. You just want to get the meat a nice brown color on the outside for flavor, you're not actually trying to cook the meat.

Then chop up potatoes and carrots and onions and season with salt and other spices and place everything in the bottom of your crock pot.

Place the browned lamb over the veggies and then pour on some broth.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours or until the meat is fall apart tender. At this point it was really late at night and I stopped taking pictures. I removed the lamb and separated the incredibly tender meat from fat and bone before shredding it and returning it to the stew. Then I put the crock pot into the fridge overnight. A couple of hours before dinner, I brought the crock pot out of the fridge and removed the layer of fat that had formed on top. Then I re-heated the crock pot until the stew was simmering.

Once the stew was bubbling away, I stirred in a cup of peas (barley would be good here too) because 1. I have an abundance of peas in my freezer and 2. I thought that a St. Patrick's Day stew should have something green in it.

Mix 6 tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup of cold water and stir the slurry into the stew to thicken it up. Then cover and cook for another 20 minutes or until you are ready to eat.

This really did make a lovely stew. It was delicious, but I have to be truthful; as I scooped bites of the stew into my mouth, I found myself wishing that I'd used beef instead. The lamb did lend itself to an incredibly tender protein, but I'm still partial to beef. Maybe the amount of lamb consumed in my formative years has scarred me for life? Probably not. I did have an amazing rack of lamb on my honeymoon, so I haven't completely written it off. I may just stick to dry preparation methods from here on out. For the record, our daughters loved this. My oldest kept sopping it up with her soda bread, exclaiming, "Mom, this gravy is SO good!" Of course, I didn't mention that "the gravy" was actually lamb stew.

The perfect pair for the stew was Irish Soda Bread. I found the recipe on a website titled, "Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread". The author of this site had some definite opinions on what should qualify as "traditional". Maybe they inspired my free-range lamb rant? Anyway, here are some excerpts from the site, found HERE.

"If your "soda bread" has raisins, it's not "soda bread! It's called "Spotted Dog" or "Railway Cake"! If it contains raisins, eggs, baking powder, sugar or shortening, it's called "cake", not "bread." All are tasty, but not traditional Irish Soda Bread!"

"If one searches the internet using the term "Traditional Irish Soda Bread" about 63,500 sites are listed. 98% of them aren't even close to being traditional. Google "Irish Soda Bread" and you will find 126,000 sites.

Would "French Bread" (15th century) still be "French Bread" if whiskey, raisins, or other random ingredients were added to the mix? Would Jewish Matzo (unleavened bread) used to remember the passage of the Israelites out of Egypt still be Matzo if we add raisins, butter, sugar, eggs, and even orange zest? So why is traditional "Irish Soda Bread" (19th century) turned into a dessert and labeled "Traditional Irish Soda Bread?" OK, maybe you don't like the analogy, but you get the point!"

"The basic soda bread is made with flour, baking soda, salt, and soured milk (or buttermilk). That's it!"

There is quite a bit of additional information supporting the author's claims about "traditional" Irish soda bread on the site. I encourage you to check out The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread to read more!

Truthfully, I just liked this approach to soda bread because it was easy to prepare and I knew that my family would probably reject the versions containing raisins and caraway seeds. Plus, I thought that the crusty white bread would be awesome for sopping the stew.

Here's how it came together:

First sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Then pour in buttermilk. Stir until you form a soft dough.

Then turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead. Only knead long enough that the dough absorbs a bit more flour and will hold it's shape. Too much kneading will cause the "gas" to escape and makes for a tougher loaf of bread.

Pat the dough into a round shape and drop it into a lightly greased and floured round cake pan. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross shape onto the top.

Top with another pan and bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Then, remove the top pan and bake for another 15 minutes.

Truth be told, I baked mine a couple of minutes too long. I heard the timer go off, but continued typing an article I was working on. A few minutes later, I snapped back to reality and dashed across the kitchen just in time to rescue the bread. Whew!

We loved, loved, LOVED this bread. I'll definitely be making it again and I won't wait for next St. Patty's Day to do so. This recipe made for a nice, crusty bread with a dense, tender crumb that was ideal for soaking up the stew, but is also good on it's own with butter or honey.

One last shot of our "traditional" Irish meal.

Slow-Cooker Irish Stew

2 lb. lamb shoulder roast - cut into 4 or 5 pieces
2 chopped onions
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 medium potatoes - peeled and cubed
1-2 tbsps. oil
6 c. beef broth
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. crushed rosemary
1/4 tsp. celery seed or a teaspoon of celery salt
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/8 tsp. crushed dry thyme
1 cup peas, thawed
6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cold water
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley for garnish

Brown meat in shortening in a large skillet, over medium-high to high heat. Don't cook the meat; just get it brown.Combine browned meat in Crock-Pot with onion, broth, potato, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, celery seed, marjoram, thyme and carrot.

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until meat is fall apart tender and potatoes are done. Remove the meat and cut up or shred. Return to crock pot. If possible, refrigerate the stew overnight. Skim fat and return the stew to a simmer.

Dissolve flour in 1/2 c. cold water and add to Crock-Pot with the peas. Cover Crock-Pot, turn to high and cook 15 to 20 minutes until the stew is thickened.

Serve with Irish Soda Bread.

Notes: I read someplace that garlic and rosemary are not traditional Irish flavors. I added them anyway because when preparing lamb, I can't resist adding garlic and rosemary. It's just habit.

Also, this recipe would make a wonderful BEEF stew. Just substitute the same amount of beef roast and follow the recipe above.


White Soda Bread from Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread

4 cups (16 oz) of all purpose flour.
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of buttermilk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly crease and flour a cake pan.

In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot). Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

I hope that you all enjoy the holiday!

Heart-Shaped Pizza and The Meal Plan

Happy Valentine's Day!

We always spend the evening of Valentine's Day at home as a family. Usually I make a "fancy" dinner and we set the table with the crystal and china. We decorate the dining room. Sometimes we dress up. We have our own little kid-friendly, formal Valentine's dinner. I love this tradition...the loves of my life gathered around the table, celebrating our love for one another. It makes me happy.

But this particular Valentine's Monday happens to kick-off an extra-ordinarily busy week for our little family. Pure craziness this week, I'm tellin' ya!  And so, the other day, when I asked my 6 year old what she thought we should make for Valentine's dinner and she answered, "Heart Pizzas!" I could've kissed her. In fact, I did. Definitely do-able. Definitely a quick dinner. But still festive...I like the way she thinks!

Here's how I made the heart-shaped pizza:

First, I lightly sprinkled my Pampered Chef pastry mat with cornmeal. Then, I popped open a tube of refrigerated pizza dough and un-rolled it on the mat.

Next, I rolled out the dough to between 1/4 and 1/8 of an inch thickness. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into a heart shape.

Brush a pizza pan with oil and transfer the dough.

Now, top the pizza. Tonight the kiddos voted for plain cheese. Perfect! No chopping involved!

Twist the leftover dough into breadsticks. Brush with garlic butter and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Bake the pizza according to the dough package directions. Put the breadsticks in there too. The breadsticks turned out really nice! I think that these went into the 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. I can't be sure.  I forgot to take notes this time.

The heart-shaped pizza was a hit! Nothing fancy this year, we ate the pizza on paper plates. No one complained...least of all, me (aka The Dishwasher).

I did have to do something a little "fancy" for the occasion. A Valentine's treat for my family.... Check out this decadent Nutella Torte that we ate for dessert!

When things slow down around here, I promise to post the step-by-step and recipe for this spectacular cake! It was loaded with chocolate-hazelnut goodness!

It was a good Valentine's night!
__________________

Now for the belated, abbreviated meal plan. You may notice that I'm on a chicken kick this week. You can cook all of the chicken at once and use it for meals throughout the week!

Monday February 14th

Heart Pizza
Nutella Torte

Tuesday February 15th

Chicken Florentine Lasagna

Wednesday February 16th

Chicken Tortellini Salad

Thursday February 17th

Leftovers

Friday February 18th

Chicken Enchilada Pizza

Saturday February 19th

Dinner Out with Friends

Sunday February 20th

Leftovers again? Takeout? Not sure yet....
(The kiddos will be at their grandparent's overnight!)

Grocery List

Produce

Spinach
Mushrooms
Garlic
Pecans
Red Bell Pepper
Green Bell Pepper
Celery
Red Onion
Onion
Jalapeno Pepper
Grape Tomatoes
Cilantro

Dairy

Sour (light) cream
Grated Parmesan
Shredded Cheddar
10 oz. fresh tortellini
Refrigerated pizza crust
8 oz. Colby Jack cheese, shredded

Meat

6 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Canned Goods

1 can cream of mushroom soup
Cider vinegar
Honey
Dijon mustard
Vegetable oil
Green Taco Sauce

Dry Goods

Lasagna noodles
Parsley
Dry Mustard
Basil


I hope that you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and have an equally wonderful week!

Heart Cakes

My baby turned 3 today. She is truly a blessing to our family. She brightens every day with her gorgeous smile and her cute little personality. On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday with cake and ice cream and some good friends.

A couple of weeks before her birthday party, I asked her what kind of a party she wanted (Dora? My Little Pony?). She just shrugged. She has the cutest little shrug. This indifference was surprising to me because my oldest had definite and detailed ideas of what her party should look like from the age of 2 on. I decided to approach the subject from a different angle, "Okay, what kind of cake do you want?" She answered matter-of-factly, "A heart cake. A BERRY heart cake." I was surprised and thought that I had misunderstood. "Do you mean Strawberry Shortcake?" "Nooooo, Mommy," she answered, "A heart cake WITH berries!" Just to clarify, I asked, "And what will the cake taste like?" Then she smiled her big, beautiful smile and answered, "Chocolate." Whew. Glad I asked...

Here's what I came up with:

As luck would have it, I purchased a small heart-shaped baking pan similar to this Wilton Dimensions Cast-Aluminum Nonstick Crown of Hearts Panat a garage sale last summer. Finally, an opportunity to use it! Going with the "chocolate" request, I baked a Devil's Food cake mix into it for the occasion.

This was super easy to decorate, the pan made for a pretty cake all on it's own, so I just traced the lines with buttercream frosting, embellished with some dots and big stars for a border, and garnished with berries. I'm talking 10-15 minutes, from start to finish!

Since this heart cake was on the small side, I decided to provide the guest of honor with her very own birthday cake and then bake tiny individual heart-shaped cakes for her friends using my Wilton 6-Cavity Nonstick Heart Mini Cake Pan.The pan only makes 6 and 12 children would be attending the party, so I baked one pan of chocolate and one pan of vanilla.

On the morning of the party, I frosted and decorated the little hearts. These were served with vanilla ice cream. I have some weird aversion to scooping ice cream during a party, so I placed individual scoops of ice cream into  muffin cup liners, put them on a cookie sheet, covered them with plastic wrap, and put them back into the freezer a few hours before the party. Before calling guests to the table for a round of "Happy Birthday", I placed one muffin cup full of ice cream next to each little heart cake. Easy-peasy.

I decorated each heart just a little differently from the next. To avoid confusion, chocolate cakes were frosted with pink....

And vanilla cake was frosted with white.

Chocolate.

Vanilla. You get the idea...

After baking the heart cakes, I had lots of leftover cake batter. I poured the remainder into muffin cups for cupcakes for the adults in attendance. If you don't have a big star tip for frosting cupcakes bakery-style, then check this out: Decorating Tip-#1M Star. I soooo prefer frosting with this tip to holding the cupcake and smoothing on frosting with a knife. Using a decorator's bag and tip is much easier and faster and the end result is prettier!

A few days before the party, I took my daughter to the local party store. "Alright, you can pick your plates and napkins." I told her. To my surprise (and delight) she by-passed all of the themed party packages (Barbie, Disney Princess, etc.) and walked straight to some plain pink plates. "Pink, mommy!" she exclaimed as she grabbed up a 24-pack of dessert plates. Okay, then. I completely appreciated her "less is more" approach to the tablescape. It's way more my style... : )  Granted, if she had reached for plates with characters smiling back at me, I would have indulged her. After all, you only turn 3 once! We've done Elmo and Dora and Ariel the Little Mermaid in the past...but I loved that she just picked a color instead.

On the way out of the store, I grabbed streamers in two colors of pink and a roll of white for decorations.

Tip: Streamers are cheap (about $.70 a roll) and you can cover a lot of area with them, making a room look festive for a child's birthday with just a little bit o' cash.

The morning of the party, I decorated the party room (under the management of my toddler).

I realize that the decor looked VERY similar to that of her 1st birthday party, which I planned without her input. Was she trying to recapture her youth? Ha ha.

Oh, and for a centerpiece....I grabbed all of the leftover Christmas goodies from my pantry (Fudge-covered mint Oreos, candy canes, peanut brittle, caramel corn, M&M's, a separated chocolate orange) and placed them in candy jars on the table.

As we all gathered 'round to sing the birthday song, I had one happy little birthday girl! She LOVED her special cake...

One more note: That's a "Shirley Temple" in front of my daughter. This happens to be her new favorite beverage when we go out to eat. Before the party, I poured a 2 liter of Sprite into a pitcher over 1/4 jar of maraschino cherries (with the juice) and tah-dah! Kiddie Cocktails! These were the perfect beverage for the pink motif of the party.

So that's my daughter's 3rd birthday party, but these ideas would easily be applied to Valentine's Day party! It's just a little over a month away after all...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Stay tuned for some Spicy Crispy Orange Beef Stir-Fry tomorrow!