Lemon Meringue Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Cupcake Club

Here we are mid month again. I appreciate those that have followed me even though I'm a once a month blogger. Come fall I will be posting more of my kitchen creations. When I first got my Martha Stewart Cupcakes Cookbook the cupcake that caught my eye right away was the Lemon Meringue Cupcake. Those that really know me know I love all things lemon. The best intentioned diet can quickly be ruined by the word "lemon". Lemon and sugar together brings me great joy.

Growing up I would spend countless hours in the kitchen with my Grandmother. Thanksgiving time was a treasure because of the time I would spend with her baking pies. My all time favorite? Lemon Meringue. Oh yum. Not to mention I share this love with my Grandfather and my husband's late Grandfather as well. Both great men to share a great love with.

This little cuppie was not a let down whatsoever. The cupcake batter was again thick which worried me but came out fine. Martha's cupcakes are notoriously dense so far. I am getting used to this and some are much better than others. The batter was made with buttermilk, lemon zest, and lemon juice which gave it a light yummy flavor.

Now this is the first time I have ever made lemon curd. It was not as time consuming as I expected and turned out soooo good. The meringue is a Seven Minute Frosting. It turned out glossy and beautiful as it did before. This was finished off with a toasting to make it perfect. I loved these and would definately make these again.

You can find this cupcake on page 142 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. This cupcake was chosen by Megan from My Baking Adventures. Check out the blog roll here for more interpretations. Thanks for looking!

MSC Smores Cupcakes by Monica

It's my favorite time of the month. This month the cupcake was chosen by Mary Ann from Meet Me in the Kitchen blog. You can find this recipe on page 151 of Martha Stewart Cupcakes.

Today I am also featuring my beautiful sister Erica (Her post is right under mine). It is her birthday today. She is now co-authoring this blog and you will be seeing some changes. I'm feeling a little limited because of the name of my blog so I will most likely be changing the name. I guess I'm a little sick of just making cupcakes. I'm sure my family is getting sick of them too. I just feel like I want to branch out more.

My sister and I both have a love of baking and cooking. We learned most of what we know from our wonderful Grandmother and our dear Auntie Linda. Both taught us what they knew and both fabulous cooks in their kitchens. Erica is also a wonderful cook. I am so glad to be sharing this with her. We would like to own a shop of our own someday. *Sigh* Someday. We can all dream, right?

Okay, back to the cupcake. Now there is a lot of controversy with Martha's Cupcakes so far. Some love them and some hate them. I am finding that I love parts of some of the cupcakes and I'm not too fond of other parts. This one is no exception. I love love love the topping. It is topped with a chocolate ganache and then a marshmallow frosting. I did not do the marshmallow recipe from the book I followed this one from her website. I was very happy with it. It was finished off with a toasting from my lovely kitchen torch for a toasted effect. (Thanks again Em!) Overall, perfect topping. Loved it.

I know I totally skipped the whole cupcake and went straight for the frosting. That is because I did not love the cupcake. In my opinion it was a total flop. It has been said before by my fellow MSC club members of the density of some of these cupcakes and I've only somewhat agreed. But these were so dense you could probably use them as hockey pucks, or at least a paper weight.

I used Graham flour found in the health food section of the grocery store. It was coarse so I had reservations from the beginning. I do get the effect they were trying to get. I was excited to put honey in, I mean use can't have a graham cracker effect without the honey. After I mixed the dry with the wet ingredients I knew these were going to be trouble. The batter was really really thick. Did anyone else think so? They were hard to handle and I had to use a rubber spatula to actually spread them in the cupcake wrapper. NOT a good thing. The book said to bake at 350 for 25 minutes. I checked at 20 minutes and they were already over done. Bummer. This left them dry with crispy edges. They had somewhat of a good flavor but were a bit gritty from the graham flour.

Oh well, I always give my cupcakes away with a disclaimer. Ha. I may try a Smores Cupcake again using the same topping but definately a different cupcake. Maybe these? Hmmm....we'll see.

Keep reading for Erica's first time review and experience with this doozie. :)

MSC Smore Cupcakes by Erica

Hi!  I'm Erica.  Monica's bratty little sis!  :o)  I'm very excited to be featured in her blog.  I love and am impressed with every single thing she creates.  She is very talented, so have mercy on me, because I am not quite a pro like my sister yet.  And i'm just learning how to use the lighting in my house to take great pictures.  Monica has taught me a lot. 

So...I made the cupcake this month and I was not very impressed with it.  I followed the directions exactly, and the end result looks NOTHING like Martha's cupcake.  *lol*  The cupcake batter was so thick and then when I tried a cupcake before frosting it was really gritty.  Which I'm sure is from the graham flour.  The taste was pretty good, but again...gritty. Almost like a corn bread. :o)  Also, when I got done baking them...they ALL had a hollow center.  They all sunk!  I was about ready to throw the towel in, but I kept going.

Onto the ganache...ask my sister...i'm not a big fan of semi-sweet chocolate.  Give me a milk chocolate candy bar and i'll scarf it down, but dark...ewwww...too tart?  What is it?  So I was not a fan of the ganache either.  Maybe if it was made with milk chocolate I would LOVE it.  It was sure pretty though how it was all shiny and smooth.  And then the way it dripped off the cupcake.  Looked like heaven, but didn't quite taste like it.

The marshmallow stuff was pretty easy to make, but it never got the thick consistency like it said it would.  I still have a cupcake on the counter and the marshmallow is still sticky and soft.  My peaks looked nothing like the picture, but I think it was too runny or the hole in the center of my cupcake had something to do with it.  I think my favorite part of the whole process was when I got to brown the marshmallow.  I don't have a fancy shmancy torch thingamajig, so I went out to the garage and grabbed my husbands giant propane torch!  I didn't even burn the house down.

All and all this was a fun project.  I enjoy creating things and seeing how they turn out.  I can't wait to be featured more in our sisterly blog.

MSC Coconut Cupcakes with Seven Minute Frosting

I have been a little MIA. Sorry about that. Since the end of November my life turned into a whirlwind of craziness and I honestly have no clue what happened. I think there were a few holidays, a lot of food, and a big guy in a red suit during that time. Not sure though. Anyhoo, I'm back and excited to be baking again. To be honest, I baked the November bonus cupcake and December's cupcake of the month but never had time to blog about them. Plus, I love taking pictures as much as I love baking and it pains me to put on mediocre pictures on my blog. With me working all day, by the time I get home and get my cupcakes finished it is dark. *Sigh* So there is usually no possibility for a beautiful photo. So please be patient with me and my terrible pictures. I'm thinking I need to be smarter about this (imagine that) and bake the Saturday before so I will be satisfied with my pics. Next time.

Okay, well enough rambling. This month the club made a Coconut Cupcake with Seven Minute Frosting. These were chosen by Jennifer of Cinema Cupcakes. I was a little skeptical only because when I think of coconut, I think of summer. In the middle of January it's hard for me to imagine summer. These ended up looking like little snowballs which fit perfectly in the middle of January. You can find these on page28-29 of Martha Stewart Cupcakes.

The cupcake was pretty simple to put together, although I have to give credit to my hubby for mixing these up. In trying to get done before dark I asked if he would mix them up for me this time. The batter has shredded coconut that has been ground very fine and it also has coconut milk in it. With all that coconut I was expecting them to be super coconutty, but they were pretty mild. I was fine with that. Mine were moist and came out of the oven slightly mounded. Perfect for frosting. The recipe suggested using 7 minute frosting. I have never done this frosting. A sugar syrup is made on the stovetop, then poured into whipped up egg whites. Different but good. I topped these off with leftover coconut. Overall, these turned out wonderfully. They are not my favorite MS cupcake recipe. I think this summer I may try this one.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I'm truly excited for this new year. It will be a year of change. Can't wait!

MSC Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Yeah, you read that right.  I put sweet potatoes in a cupcake!  We are feeling festive now!  I have been very excited for these ever since it was posted as the November Martha Stewart Cupcake Club choice.  I am one of "those people".  You know, those that absolutely love "candied yams" or "sweet potatoes" on Thanksgiving.  You are either a lover or a hater and I am definately a lover.  Hence, just the sight of these made me giddy with excitement.  Today's cupcake was chosen by Karen from Karen's Cookies, Cakes, & More.  Check out her interpretation of today's cupcake and click here to check out other club member's blogs too.

I started early this morning by baking 2 pounds of sweet potatoes in the oven. Once cooled they were peeled and mashed into this beautiful orange mush. It was a thick batter, but the cupcake turned out very very moist and has just the right amount of spice.

These baked up with a flat surface and a light orange color. These are topped with toasted marshmallows and candied pecans. This is some serious yum here.  Now the whole marshmallow fiasco turned out to be much more work than it was worth.  They did end up looking gorgeous though.

The directions instruct to place 24 mounds of mini marshmallows on a non stick surface.  Then toast, then transfer to the cupcake, then sprinkle with the pecans. 

The mounds were simple (aren't they cute), the toasting was okay, the transfer was a bit of a problem, and the sprinkling of nuts was impossible.  There you have it in a nutshell. Ha! I used my new little kitchen torch (thanks Dave and Em!) to toast 3/4 of them and I broiled about a fourth in the oven.  They both have their advantages and disadvantages though I seemed to have more fires with the torch! :) Transferring was a problem because my little mounds were falling apart on their way to the cupcake.  I got that mostly worked out.  The sprinkling of nuts was impossible because they just wouldn't stick to the mound and kept rolling right off.  I somewhat got that worked out.  I still wasn't satisfied by the end.

All in all I really enjoyed these. Great flavors and such a fun little presentation with the toasted marshmallows.

These marshmallow were toasted in the oven. Oh, so pretty. :)

This is not a great picture but here is a comparison of my toasting methods.  The one on the left was done in the oven under the broiler and the one on the right was done with my kitchen torch.

You can find this recipe on page 243 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

I never got back with you about my MSC Creeper Cakes.  I do have a few things to add.  Sorry I was in such a rush last time.

1. My club was having a contest for these Halloween cupcakes.  I happened to win! It was a very pleasant surprise.  I'm flattered. :)

2. You can find the One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes on page 152 and the Swiss Meringue Buttercream on page 304.

3.  These turned out great! I had heard another blogger saying she didn't really like this recipe but I thought it was great and they were a big hit at our Halloween party.

If you love to bake and havn't had the chance to pick this book up yet, you need too! I used to be so afraid of scratch cakes but am learning with each cupcake how wonderfully delicious they are. My beautiful sister received this book as a gift and you may be seeing her guest on this blog.  Can't wait!  She is my hero and is a fabulous cook and homemaker.  Till next time!

MSC Halloween Creeper Cupcakes

Spooky Creeper Cakes

This one is going to be a quickie because I have a BatGirl and a G.I. Joe Ninja that are itching to get trick or treating.  I had a blast making these fun little cupcakes for our Halloween party.  I did the Martha Stewart One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes and the Swiss Buttercream Frosting.  I forgot what pages they were on and will update later with those.  We havn't even tried these yet!  I will let you know how they taste later.

My cute litte hubby helped me with some of these.  He is pretty creative and we were in a rush to get them done.  I hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!!

MSC Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

Please tell me how adorable these little pumpkins are.  I mean really!  Look at them!  They are so stinkin' cute I can hardly stand it.  I was so looking forward to this cupcake.  Nothing says fall to me than pumpkin whatever baking in the oven.  Oh man, I wish I could somehow send the smell through your screen because my mouth waters just thinking of it.  Soooo yummy. 

So if you can't tell these are a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting and little marzipan pumpkins just hanging out on top looking all cute.  As far as the cupcake goes these were very easy to prepare.  They came out very moist with a fluffy crumb.  I have made this cream cheese frosting before.  I still love it.  It is really so yummy you must try it.  You can find it here.

The batter was very thick.  I folded in the pumpkin by hand.  It gave the batter a beautiful orange color.  I scooped the batter in my cupcake wrappers with this.  Is anyone out there still spooning your cupcake batter in?  I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I don't like any batter dripped on my pan.  That is why I use the scoop.  I got mine from Pampered Chef.  I love it.

These baked up beautifully.  You can't tell in this picture but they had a beautiful orange tint.  Oh I couldn't wait to try one!  The cake by itself is very tasty.  It definately needed to be topped though.

Mmmmmmmm.  Yum.

My finished product.  I did enjoy making the little pumpkins once I got the color mixed in.  I hate that part.  Speaking of marzipan, does anyone have a good source for marzipan?  I got mine at the grocery store and it was okay.  I've had better.  I'm not sure how many people actually eat these anyway.  I'm thinking they are more for decoration?

I got this adorable little pedestal from my in-laws for my birthday.  I'm in love with it.  Thank you Bob and Marilyln!  You two are always so thoughtful!  Don't they look pretty?

I thought my little pumpkins needed a friennd.  Mr. Jack-o-lantern designed by my little boy.  I really do love this time of year!  :)  Overall I would say this cupcake is a 4.5.  It was so yummy.  Hopefully it holds up for tomorrow.  We'll see.  You can find this recipe on page 236 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.  Stay tuned!  Two more cupcakes this month!