Recipe #15: Lemon & Orange Syrup Cupcakes

Mmm... Lemon to me is the taste of summer. It is absolutely the epitome of sun and breeze. So I tried out these great mini-cupcakes. Makes about 36.

Ingredients

*Just over 1/2 cup butter, chilled and chopped

*1 cup sugar

*2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

*2 tsp finely grated orange zest

*3 eggs

*1/2 milk

*1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

Lemon Syrup

*1 cup superfine sugar

*zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line mini-muffin holes with paper cases

2. Place the butter, sugar, lemon and orange zests ina saucepan and stir over low heat under the sugar has dissolved. Transfer into a large bowl. Add the eggs, milk, and flour, and beat until just combined.

3. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

4. To make the syrup, place 200ml of water and the sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon and orange zests, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden and syrupy (approx. 10 minutes).

5. Strain the syrup, reserving the zest. Decorate each cake with some strips of zest and pour a little syrup on top.

Maplesyrupworld.com

I just wanted to mention that my Banana Sour Cream Cupcakes are now a featured recipe over with the good folks at http://www.maplesyrupworld.com! Go check them out. I think I'll have to try out the Apple Tart with Maple Whipped Cream!

Recipe #14: Currant Scones

Scones! I hadn't made scones in years, so I decided for a ladies tea party I was holding that I would try them out again. I found them at allrecipes.com, and they were easy and sososo good. I fussed with them a little, but you can see my version here, and the websites version above. Serve them warm with butter or devonshire cream, and some jam. Mmm...

Next time I try scones, it's going to be these raspberry ones a friend sent me. They look amazing.

Ingredients

*2 cups all-purpose

*1/3 cup sugar

*1 teaspoon baking powder

*1/4 teaspoon baking soda

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*1 teaspoon lemon zest

*1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen

*1/2 cup dried currants

*1/2 cup sour cream

*1 large egg

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat over to 400 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater. Use your fingers to work in butter until the mixture looks like coarse meal, then stir in currants.

3. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.

4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough together against the bowl into a ball. It might be sticky in places, but keeping working it and it will come together.

5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a circle that's about 3/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into triangles (recipe called for 8, but mine was more like 12). Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm.

Recipe #13: Sour Cherry Crumble Patty Cakes

The previous recipe I said was one of the best recipes I had ever tried, but this one comes pretty close.

The original recipe called for canned plums, but I couldn't find any, so I picked up some sour cherries. They were so good. I just chopped them up a bit and put about 2-3 pieces in each.

Lastly, these are supposed to be patty cakes, but I used mini-cupcake holes instead. It made about 40 mini-cakes instead of the 24 that the recipe suggested.

Ingredients

Batter:

*4/5 cup butter, softened (or 185 grams)

*3/4 cup sugar

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*3 eggs

*1 cup self-raising flour

*1/4 cup all-purpose flour

*1/2 cup cherry juice

*1-2 cherries/cake, thinly sliced

Crumble topping:

*1/2 cup sugar

*1 cup all-purpose flour

*1/2 cup butter (or a little less), chilled and diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degress F. Line many many many mini-cupcake holes.

2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla with beaters until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flours together and fold in alternately with the cherry juice. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases and cover each with slices of cherry.

3. To make the crumble topping, place the sugar, flour and butter in a bowl. Mix together with fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the crumble over each cake, covering all of the cherries.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

Recipe #12: Banana Sour Cream Cupcakes

After a ridiculously long delay, I'm back. I was finishing up my last semester of University, and it was a doozy. But now I'm in job hunting, baking and crafting mode, so new stuff is coming.

I got this great cupcake book at Christmas, and in May I decided that I had to try a bunch of the recipes.

These cupcakes are one of the best recipes I have ever tried. They are amazing. Moist and almost creamy in their decadence. Beware, these are addictive!

Ingredients

Batter:

*4/5 cup butter, softened (or 185 grams)

*1 cup superfine sugar (I used regular)

*3 eggs

*2 1/2 cups self-raising flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*3/4 cup sour cream (I used half sour cream, half milk)

*2 tablespoons maple syrup

*3 very ripe bananas, mashed

Icing:

*2 3/4 oz light cream cheese, softened

*1/5 cup butter, softened (or 50 grams)

*1 1/2 tablespoons honey (I used corn syrup)

*2 cups icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin holes with paper cases.

2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl using electric beaters for 5-6 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift the flour and baking soda together. Add the sour cream and maple syrup to the mashed banana and mix well. Fold the flour mixture alternately with the banana mixture in the butter mixture until well combined.

4. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

5. To make icing, place the cream cheese and butter in a small bowl and beat until smooth. Add the honey/corn syrup and icing sugar and beat until smooth and well combined. Decorate each cake generously with icing.

Recipe #11: Orange Almond Biscotti

Biscotti!!! I love making Biscotti because it's so easy and yummy. It's also a fantastic gift, especially for the poor student, like myself. I really like this recipe. They taste great and are relatively less bad for you. So check it out!

My plan in the next week is to bake a whole pile of stuff and gift it as prettily as possible. I'm in full Christmas mode, making presents, tags, decorations, etc. I'll attempt to post them, but probably not until after so I don't spill the beans on any of my presents.

Ingredients

*2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

*1 1/4 cups white sugar

*1 pinch salt

*2 teaspoons baking powder

*1/2 cup sliced almonds

*1 tablespoon orange zest

*3 eggs, beaten

*1 tablespoon vegetable oil

*1 teaspoon almond extract (I quadrupled the amount in the original recipe)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, almonds, and orange zest. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, oil, and almond extract. Stir or mix by hand until the mixture forms a ball.

3.Separate dough into 2 pieces and roll each one into a log about 8 inches long. Place logs on prepared baking sheet and flatten so they are about 3/4 inch thick. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Cool slightly, and remove from baking sheets. Slice diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Set cookies on side back onto the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 more minutes, turning over after halfway. Finished cookies should be hard and crunchy.

Recipe #10: Vegan Chocolate Almond Cookies

Found these cookies on a favourite baking blog. I thought I would try some vegan baking for a change. However, I forgot how much I dislike molasses. UGH. However, the cookies came out really chewy, which I love in a cookie. I would suggest for those that don't love molasses like me to try out less molasses, more syrup and MORE chocolate. There is definitely not enough chocolate in this recipe for me, but it might be enough for others.

(Shout out to my CBC Calgary mug from the 80's! Heck yes!)

Ingredients

*2 cups all-purpose flour

*2 tsp baking powder

*1 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp sea salt

*1/2 cup granulated sugar

*1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I would up this big time)

*1 tsp ground cinnamon

*2/3 cup maple syrup

*1/2 cup molasses (I would halve this myself)

*1/2 cup vegetable oil

*1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. Sift together all dry ingredients (minus almonds) into a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until oil no longer separates. Add to dry ingredients; stir in almonds. Mix by hand until completely combined. I recommend chilling the dough for a less sticky rolling experience, because this dough is STICK-EE!)

2. Form dough into 1-inch balls; place onto cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for NO MORE THAN ELEVEN MINUTES. (Any longer, and they’ll burn!) Remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely (if you don't do this, they will stick to the sheet like the dickens). This recipe makes 20 good sized cookies.