After voting and looking at all the goodies in last months contest, i've decided to join IronCupcake: Earth. It's basically the Iron Chef of the cupcake world. Secret ingredients and original recipes. This month's secret ingredient is Basil.
I never really liked lemon flavored desserts, but i've always heard lemon & basil go well together, so I thought i'd give this challenge a try.
I saw a Raspberry cupcake with Meyer Lemon curd on Martha Stewart's show. I liked the idea of the curd, so I decided to use the same idea, but use different flavors to include basil.
I came up with this Lemon Cupcake with Lemon/Lime/Basil curd filling & Orange Zest Buttercream Frosting.
Look at that yummy goodness inside.
Ingredients and recipe for the Lemon cupcake:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 package Lemon pudding mix
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place cupcake liners into the cupcake tin.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
- With an electric mixer, beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Stir ittogether.
- Add this dry mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix well.
- Stir in the milk until the batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
Batter all mixed up and ready for the cupcake liners.
Cupcakes cooled and hollowed for the curd.
Ingredients for the Lemon/Lime/Basil curd:
3 eggs
4 egg yolks
Zest of 3 lemons
1 cup of lemon/lime juice (it was actually supposed to be a whole cup of lemon juice but I only had the 3 lemons and it wasn't even close to filling a cup, so I used 4 limes I had lying around to make a full cup) .
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) ~ chilled and cut up into small pieces
1 cup sugar
Directions
- Prepare and ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in ice-water bath and set aside.
- Place sugar and lemon zest and basil leaves in a mortar and grind witha pestle to combine and release the oils.
- Transfer sugar mixture to a medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine.
- Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved.
- Add lemon/lime juice and basil leaves and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
- Add butter and whisk until well combined.
- Strain lemon/lime/basil mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. (I used a strainer and cheesecloth).
- Cover curd mixture with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface.
- Transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled.
I just used a basic buttercream frosting and added a tablespoon of orange zest.
Here is the recipe I used:
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
Pinch of salt
2-1/2 c. of confectioners or powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp orange zest
In an electric mixer, mix the butter and confectioners sugar until fluffy. Add a pinch of salt. Scrape down the sides of the mixer. Add the vanilla and orange zest. Add milk one teaspoon at a time. Mix until well combined.
- Featured prize from the very talented Etsy Artist Metal Sugar
- Cool Head Chefs utensils by Fiesta Products
- The awesome cupcake book Hello! Cupcake by Karen Tack and Allen Richardson
- A wonderfully crafted apron from Jessie Steele Aprons
- What every serious cupcake baker needs, a Cupcake Courier&
- a publication of Taste of Home magazine, which has delicious recipe ideas.
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2 comments:
OH I hope i dont forget to vote! You know i am not a big fan of cupcakes but these ones make me want to try 'em! They look yummy!
Wish you lived closer so you could try them.
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